A tiger which is on the way to returning home has made the Forest Department officials of Rajaji Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand joyous and excited. It may sound strange but it is true!

The big cat left RTR last year and travelled through four States covering hundreds of kilometres before staging a comeback. The States covered by the creature include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Talking to the media, Dr. Saket Badola, Director of RTR said that the proof of the tiger having travelled far was available through the pictures clicked by the trap cameras in the forest of Renuka in Himachal Pradesh. The forest officials of HP, were tracking the movement of the tiger and they found it to be healthy and moving towards RTR. It is expected to return once the water level in Yamuna goes down.

The tiger on leaving RTR first crossed the Ganga and reached the Motichur range of the reserve. Following this it was reported in the Simbalbara Wildlife Sanctuary in HP and in May it was seen in Haryana’s Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary.

As per wildlife experts, this journey is a good sign. Tigers are known to travel great distances in search of new habitats where there is no human intervention and enough food and water. When they don’t find this, they return to their original place. The tiger’s travel also shows that the corridor running through the four States is intact.