History has been created with the first-ever camera footage of the Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) roaming
the forests of the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, East Sikkim. While
this is the first time that a tiger has been spotted in the state, it is
also a first for the snow leopard being spotted in the eastern part of
Sikkim.
The tiger was captured on camera on the night of December 6, 2018, at
6:23 PM and 7:00PM, and on December 28 near Goru Jurey at an altitude
of 9,583 feet.
And on January 2, 2019, at 4:22 PM, the camera recorded a snow
leopard in the same spot. This very elusive and shy animal had earlier
been captured on camera in the northern and western parts of Sikkim.
However, this is the first photographic capture of a snow leopard in
East Sikkim.
This image capture of both, the Bengal Tiger and the Snow Leopard, in
the exact same location confirms the overlap in the migratory routes
used by the two big cats inside Pangolakha.
Up until the late 1980s, there have been oral narratives of tigers
freely roaming the forests of Sikkim, having migrated from the
neighbouring Neora Valley National Park of West Bengal.
The tigers crossed into Sikkim’s Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary and
made their way to the Assam Reserve Forest (altitude 5,000 ft, opposite
Tsangmo Lake). After two days of making kills, they moved to Rateypani
(6,000 ft) in the Bulbuley Reserve Forest and then migrated further
upwards towards North Sikkim through the Phamthang Reserve Forest (6,000
ft),spending a week while feeding on the residents' livestock. After
Phamthang, they arrived at the Toong and Naga Reserve Forest (7,000 ft).
This migration of tigers to Toong and Naga coincided with the
seasonal winter migration of herds of cows from Lachung and Lachen
during January to mid-March. From here, they moved to Chungthang and
then onwards to Lachung and further higher up to Chuba at 10,000 ft
where they killed again. The arrival of the tiger into these areas
caused losses to the villagers and the people were even fearful of
mentioning its name and referred to the tiger respectfully as ‘Azo’
(grandfather). They made smoke offerings to prevent the killings of
livestock by tigers.
During 1978, a team comprising of P O Pazo, the then Chief Wildlife
Warden, S T Lachungpa, then Assistant Conservator of Forests and
Chezung Lachungpa, the then Range Officer, conducted a survey on the
movement of tigers by questioning village elders and former hunters and
confirmed this migration of tigers from East to North Sikkim. At that
time, the wildlife expert N D Jayal remarked that the movement of tigers
to 10,000 ft was an unusual phenomenon and could be attributed to the
animals developing a taste for yaks.
No doubt, during the 1990s, tiger pugmarks were reported from inside
the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary and in March 2009, tiger pugmarks have
been seen near Jelep La, at an altitude of 10,000 ft, with
approximately 70 metres of animal tracks discovered.
Roars have been heard, pugmarks have been seen, tiger kills have been
described but a visual capture of the Bengal Tiger roaming the forests
of Sikkim calls for a moment of celebration. In an era when tigers have
been listed as a highly protected, Schedule 1 species, due to their
dangerously dwindling population, nearing extinction, the presence of
tigers in Sikkim’s forests is an indication of the existence of a
healthy forest ecosystem flourishing in our state. It is an affirmation
of the positive consequences of the Sikkim government’s long-term
visionary and pro-environment policies of conservation and protection of
our forests.
Much appreciation goes to the team of Field Forest Officers of the
North Pangolakha Wildlife Range, East Wildlife Division led by Range
Officer, Roshan Tamang who spent days positioning camera traps in
strategic locations inside the forests of Pangolakha, with funding
received from the Japan International Cooperation Agency-assisted Sikkim
Biodiversity Conservation and Forest Management Project. This visual
footage of the tiger is just the beginning and a concrete base upon
which a much detailed study on the migration of tigers to Sikkim has to
be conducted.
(*The historical narrative of tigers migrating from Pangolakha, East
Sikkim to North Sikkim have been detailed after interviewing a senior
retired forest officer with vast knowledge on the forests of Sikkim)
(Dechen Lachungpa is Divisional Forest Officer, East Wildlife Division, Sikkim)
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