Thaindian News

Lucknow, Nov 25 (IANS) Much to the surprise of officials and locals, pugmarks of tigers have been found in an Uttar Pradesh village which has no forest around, an official said Tuesday.”Pugmarks of an adult tigress and cubs were found by our officials Tuesday in Nagra village in Shahjahanpur, some 250 km from Lucknow,” divisional forest officer B.C. Tiwari told IANS by telephone.

He said the tigers are probably hiding in sugarcane fields. “We are yet to ascertain the exact number of tigers hiding in the fields, where an intensive combing operation has just been launched,” he added.

According to forest officials, services of three elephants have been sought for the combing operation.

As Shahjahanpur has no forest area, officials believe the tigers have strayed from the Dudhwa Tiger reserve, located in the neighbouring Lakhimpur Kheri district.

Dudhwa, India’s second largest tiger reserve after the world famous Corbett National Park, recorded a tiger population of 106 as per the official census undertaken last year.