By IANS
Jaipur : With no knowledge about the tiger who went missing from Rajasthan’s Ranthambore National Park about a month ago, the forest department is planning to put radio collars on some tigers in the sanctuary to keep track of them.
In April, the forest department had collared a tiger in Ranthambore, about 175 km from here, and is now planning to collar two more tigers.
A team of experts from the Wildlife Institute of India will arrive here on Dec 23 to collar the tigers.
“The radio collars are usually fitted on tigers aged between 20 to 24 months. These will help us learn about the habitat, travelling patterns and eating habits of tigers in the park. A tiger usually covers an area of about 20 to 40 sq km,” an official said.
The drive to collar tigers in Ranthambore is being taken up since a tiger called Yuvraj who went missing from the park about a month ago has still not been found. Wildlife experts feel it would have been easy to locate the tiger had it been collared.
“We have constituted teams to find the tiger. We have also announced a cash prize of Rs.1,100 to the person who gives us any information about the tiger,” a forest department official said.
Ranthambore National Park, situated in Sawai Madhopur district, is one of the finest tiger reserves in the country. It covers an area of around 400 sq km and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1957. It got the status of a national park in 1981.
As per a recent census conducted by the state government, the tiger population in the park has increased to 32 from the earlier count of 26 in 2005.