Nagpur: Even as efforts to track the two orphaned cubs of T1 are in full swing in Pandharkawda in Yavatmal district, the young tiger from Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station (CSTPS) has miraculously reached the doorstep of Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, travelling 420 kms in about 80-85 days.As reported earlier, this is the longest recorded migration of a tiger in the country.According to South Betul Division deputy conservator of forest (DyCF) Ashok Kumar, the power station tiger is being closely monitored in Ghoradongri area which is 30km as the crow flies from Satpura reserve.Kumar said 4 teams have been formed to monitor the tiger round the clock. “Each team works for 6 hours and movement of the animal is being geo-tagged. We are recording names of spots where scat and pug marks are found. The tiger is travelling 10-12 kms every day. On Diwali day, it travelled 26km,” he said.The animal travelled through human-dominated landscape but has not attacked people. It has survived making cattle kills for which compensation is being paid without any delay. Hence, people too are cooperating well. The tiger was also sighted near the Grand Trunk railway route (north-south) by people thrice.“For the last four days, the tiger is confined to a specific area which is well-forested and has good prey base. There is no competitor too. I feel the tiger may not head to Satpura as it will have to compete for territory with other tigers,” said Kumar.Experts with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, confirmed the tiger must have travelled over 420km from the power station where it was born and brought up. Between August 15-20, the tiger left CSTPS premises and crossed Chandrapur, Wardha and Amravati districts to reach Betul in MP.On October 31, TOI had reported that the big cat was at Palaspani village, 50km from Melghat Tiger Reserve and 100km from Satpura. By then it had travelled 350km, the longest tiger dispersal in the country.“We expected the tiger to reach Melghat but it moved in the opposite direction towards MP. The safe journey crossing various hurdles like roads, highways, rivers, agriculture fields, rivers and canals is the result of better monitoring by our teams,” said chief wildlife warden AK Misra.Misra said it is one of biggest success stories where a tiger escaped death due to sincere efforts of the staff which launched 24X7 campaign to ensure safety of the animal. “While the department is being criticized for eliminating T1, no one is recognizing how we saved one tiger from various pressures to capture/eliminate the tiger. Such dispersal is considered healthy for gene pool,” said Misra.The tiger had killed two farmers within a span for four days after they came into its critical distance in Mangrul Dastagir on October 19 in Dhamangaon Railway and in Anjansingi in Amravati district on October 22.

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