The Hindu : Karnataka News : Census tracks 17 tigers in Biligiri sanctuary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 07, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Census tracks 17 tigers in Biligiri sanctuary

Correspondent

Expert team from Hyderabad faecal collects samples

TIGER TRAIL: A recent survey has confirmed that tigers found a home in Biligiriranga wildlife sanctuary. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

CHAMARAJANAGAR: A tiger census conducted recently has confirmed the presence of 17 tigers in Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple wildlife sanctuary in Chamarajanagar district.

Spread over 583 sq. km, these jungles are home to tigers, leopards, chitals, dholes and other animals.

Much of the southern boundary of the sanctuary adjoins Tamil Nadu.

An expert biologist from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, collected faecal samples from within the sanctuary for three days.

The analysis of the samples is supposed to be the first scientifically accurate estimate on the number of tigers in the country.

According to sources, the centre has developed a method to isolate DNA from the faecal samples of tigers collected in a forest.

The samples are used for DNA fingerprinting of each tiger.

This confirmed the number of tigers' presence in the sanctuary. Jyotsna, biologist, collected faecal samples from 17 places in the sanctuary.

An analysis of the samples has confirmed the presence of 17 tigers.

But Forest Department officials said there are more than 25 tigers in the sanctuary.

The officials of the Chamarajanagar Wildlife Division have appealed to the experts of the centre to visit the BRT sanctuary in order to enumerate the exact number of tigers present in the sanctuary.

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