The presence of a tiger on the sprawling 65-acre campus of the prestigious Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh entered the 11th day on Thursday even as forest department officials waited for the big cat to move out of the premises and closely monitored its movement.
The behaviour of the tiger, T-123-4, has defied common perception that big cats move out of one place in seven to eight days, officials admitted.
MANIT authorities had earlier announced a mid-term break for 5,400 undergraduate students from October 11 to 30, while classes for 600-odd students in post-graduation courses continued, its public relations officer Dr Amit Ojha told PTI.
"The tiger is still on the campus on the 11th day. Usually, as per tiger behaviour studies, the big cat moves from one place to another in seven to eight days. Today, we spotted pugmarks. We have placed 11 cameras to monitor its movement. Five more cameras will be installed soon," Bhopal divisional forest officer (DFO) Alok Pathak told PTI.
"The tiger today came close to the cage kept with bait, but did not enter. We want it to move out of the campus naturally, on its own. Since October 3, it has killed two cows," he added.
The official said a tiger marks a territory of around 25 square kilometres and then moves in it, killing and resting.
"The livestock has been moved out of the MANIT campus completely. Now we think it will move out. Around 50 forest personnel are monitoring the movement of the tiger. It is currently in a low-lying area like a ravine spread over 300-400 acres connected to the campus," Pathak added.
AdvertisementHe said the some 5,000 hostelers and 1,000 relatives of staff live on the campus, some 100 acres of which is covered by thickets.
Tigers from Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, spread in Raisen and Sehore districts close to Bhopal, sometimes move into the Kerwa area of the state capital. This time, one of them, identified as T-123-4, has strayed into the educational facility, he said.
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