330-km tiger journey from Yavatmal to Gautala marks return after decades

In March 2021 a young male tiger undertook an extraordinary 330km journey from Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Yavatmal district to Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar marking the return of such a feline to the latter spot after decades Nearly five years later the tiger continues to roam the Gautala landscapeThe tiger was first captured on a camera trap on March 15 2021 and forest department officials identified it by matching the photograph with the tiger database and found that it was T3C1 popularly known as Walker II a male aged over two years who had originated from Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in VidarbhaIt was reportedly the first confirmed sighting of a tiger in Gautala after 1940 The tigerrsquos journey from Tipeshwar to Gautala highlighted the importance of functional wildlife corridors across Maharashtra Experts believe it may have travelled through Pandharkawada Umarkhed parts of Telangana Akola Dnyanganga in Buldhana Hingoli and the Ajanta mountain ranges before reaching GautalaWhile the direct road distance between Tipeshwar and Gautala is around 330 km experts have estimated that the tiger could have travelled close to 2000 km while navigating forests and agricultural landscapes during its dispersalLarge landscapeGautala Autramghat Sanctuary spread across about 260 sq km comprises southern tropical dry deciduous forests and grasslands The landscape supports species such as jungle cat leopard cat barking deer jackal fox leopard wild boar and chinkara According to Forest Department data the sanctuary is home to more than 25 leopards20plus camera trapsThe tiger has been using a significant portion of the Gautala Wildlife Sanctuary More than 20 camera traps have been deployed to monitor its movements while CCTV cameras have also been installed near artificial waterholes A forest department official from the sanctuary said ldquoThe tiger is actively using the landscape and has also been hunting wild prey which is a positive signrdquo Forest department officials said the latest cameratrap photographs of T3C1 were captured at an artificial waterhole inside Gautala on May 16Corridors remain crucialWildlife Conservationist Kishor Rithe director Bombay Natural History Society BNHS said the presence of transient tigers in several parts of Maharashtra highlights the importance of maintaining functional corridors ldquoThere is no guarantee that a tiger will stay in one place permanently However tigers are known to disperse and wherever their historic distribution ranges still have functional corridors they can move into and adopt suitable habitats Gautala is not the only such area in Maharashtra We have seen transient tigers recording their presence and staying for varying periods in areas such as Painganga Dnyanganga Mahendri Kalameshwar Munia and Karanja Even the Umred Pauni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary was once in a similar situationrdquo said RitheConservationrsquos concernsWildlife conservationist Kedar Gore of the Corbett Foundation said the tigerrsquos longterm presence in Gautala demonstrates that the landscape is capable of supporting a tiger and that connectivity between the two landscapes remains significant ldquoWhat is worrying is that it hasnrsquot found a female yet One needs to assess the quality of connecting forests to the Gautala landscape and the new developmental threats that have emerged in the past five years If the government wishes to repopulate Gautala with tigers then it would be necessary to translocate a couple of female tigers to Gautala rather than wait for a female to reach naturally If prey availability is sufficient only then translocation should be done Augmenting prey base will also make sense for the longterm existence of tigersrdquo added GoreWhy this mattersThe continued presence of T3C1 after nearly five years has become an important case study for conservationists While the male tiger appears to have found sufficient habitat and prey to survive the absence of a female raises questions about whether Gautala can eventually develop into a breeding tiger landscape