Cameras spot `missing` tigers at Ranthambore

JAIPUR: At least three out of five tigers, that were `missing` for sometime at Ranthambore sanctuary, have been found. They were spotted at the Sawai Man Singh sanctuary, adjoining the national park.

"The trap cameras at Sawai Man Singh sanctuary have captured tigers T-13, T-43 and T-34. While T-13 was caught on the camera on August 18, the other two were caught on August 21," said U M Sahai, chief wildlife warden, Rajasthan.

Sahai, however, refuted that the tigers were missing and choose to term it as "natural process of migration of the tigers."

However, T-43, the second Jhailkho male cub, had not been sighted for a long time and one of the tasks in the sanctuary during the recent census was to spot the tiger along with four others -- T-21 or the Chiroli male, T-27 or the Gilai Sagar female, T-29 of Berda and T-40 or the Berda male.

But the census failed to spot the tigers till officials at Ranthambore choose to use trap cameras for scanning the forests. The department has procured 17 additional cameras for the purpose.

"The tigers have not been spotted but that did not mean that they were dead. They might have strayed to some place," said an official. The state government, meanwhile, had ordered an inquiry into the missing tigers.

The hopes of the department come from its new method of tracing tigers through the trap camera method. "Now, three tigers have been traced at the Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary and we believe that if a proper search is done then other tigers too would be traced there," sources said.

There are 26 tigers at the reserve excluding 17 cubs that have been born recently, sources said. However the Wildlife Institute of India ( WII) in its census in 2010 has made a count of 31 tigers in the reserve.