Indian tiger, fondly called ‘Walker,’ has recorded the longest walk ever by a tiger in the country i.e. 3000 km (1864 miles). The tiger started his journey in June last year when he left home from the Wildlife sanctuary in Maharashtra state. He left possibly in search of prey, a suitable territory, or a tigress or mate.
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He did have a radio collar attached which kept a track of his location, every hour, every day in the nine months period when he traveled. The radio collar was fitted in February last year and was taken off in April after the Indian Tiger came to the sanctuary.
Indian Tiger’s 9 months’ Journey
The journey which started in June last year finished in March 2020, as the tiger walked through seven districts making its way through forests, canals, farms, fields, and roads to reach a wildlife sanctuary, all in search of a possible mate. He mainly traveled in the night while taking rest in the days, also settling down in areas on the onset of monsoons for shelter.
There was a total of one conflict reported between the tiger and humans, which happened when a person traced his pugmarks to his resting place, but the man was able to rescue himself with minor injuries.
Indian Tiger Lauded for his search for ‘True Love’
Many people have commended the tiger for his commitment towards finding ‘true love’, as forest official “Parveen Kaswan IFS” also tweeted on Wednesday. Kaswan mentioned how even in the lockdown period where humans are stuck are home, the Tiger is setting new goals every day. He also highlighted the importance of a corridor for such wild animals in India.
The tiger, now three-and-half-year old, is currently settled in Dnyanganga Sanctuary in Maharashtra where he is the only ‘tiger’ as the sanctuary is home to animals like leopards, wild boar, peafowl, blue bull, and spotted deer. The sanctuary is well spread across a 205 sq. km area. Maharashtra State’s senior-most forest official ‘Nitin Kakodkar’ has reported that the Indian Tiger has no territorial issues in the sanctuary and has enough prey to feed upon. However, the forest officials are also thinking of bringing in a female tiger as a mating partner for Walker, but the decision is yet to be taken.
Talking about tigers, they are not solitary creatures and possess an extreme urge to mate. Moving a female tiger in the sanctuary will need a lot of management on part of the authorities considering the area of the sanctuary and the pressure on prey. Also, the new-born tigers may easily disperse as the sanctuary is situated around farms and degraded forests as stated to reporters by Kakodkar.
India’s National pride has scarce Habitat
Although India is home to 70% of the world’s tigers, the habitat is only 25% of the total tiger habitat. Once close to extinction, thankfully the Tiger’s numbers have increased in India, but due to shrunk habitat and not much prey, the endurance environment for the county’s national animal is dubious.
