Tiger walks 3,000 km from Maharashtra to find its new home

A male tiger from the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra covered a record distance of more than 3,000 kms by foot before settling down in the Dnyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary in Buldana district, Maharashtra.

Referred to as ‘T1C1’ by wildlife officials, the tiger’s 3,000 km-hike included several back and forth journeys from Tipeshwar to the Adilabad forest in Telangana and also to the Painganga Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located on the borders of Yavatmal and Nanded districts of Maharashtra. It also moved frequently from Dnyanganga to Ajanta hills in Aurangabad.

“He has till date covered 3,020 km and has more or less settled down in Dnyanganga over the past three months,” The Indian Express quoted Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Nitin Kakodkar as saying.

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The observation of his trek showed that the tiger had covered 360 km around Tipeshwar, 1,475 km from Tipeshwar to Dnyanganga, and 1,185 km around Dnyanganga. This has earned him the nickname “Walker” from the wildlife officials.

T1C1, one of the three cubs born to a tigress (T1) in the Tipeshwar sanctuary, was radio-collared as part of the ‘Studying dispersal of tigers across the Eastern Vidarbha landscape’ project undertaken by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) along with the Forest Department.

The tiger had wounds around his abdomen from wire snares used to capture him by forest officials. However, his health improved after a month, and he had started to walk. He later began his long hike to Dnyanganga, and entered it on December 5. He settled down after that and is making use of the 52 sq km area of the sanctuary core, officials told The Indian Express.

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A WII team headed by wildlife scientist Bilal Habib tracked T1C1 at over 6,000 different GPS locations throughout its journey.

The tiger, which is around two years old, had baffled wildlife experts as to why he had not settled anywhere along his journey route. “He has walked many landscapes, including highways, rivers, agricultural lands and forests, betraying ability to avoid confrontation with humans. He has also been killing his natural preys,” Kakodkar said, according to The Indian Express.

“One of the possible reasons for his ceaseless walk could be in search for a mate. So, we have constituted a committee of experts that will decide if we should translocate a female for him to Dnyanganga. We will take a call on the basis of the committee’s report,” Kakodkar added.

Officials speculated that ‘Walker’ may have settled down in Dnyanganga because of the availability of abundant prey and an unchallenged territory of his own.