Thursday, February 17 2005 14:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jaipur: Fresh indications are available that the big cat may not have disappeared from Rajasthan's Sariska reserve with forest officials coming across excreta and paw scratches of the tiger and recovery of skulls of a cow and a bull, a top wildlife official said yesterday (Feb 16, 2005).

Tigers' excreta at 11 places, recovery of two skulls of a gluebull and cow and paw's scratches show that the tiger has not vanished from the reserved forest, the official monitoring the trekking of the animal for the last fortnight said in Jaipur.

Tigers' visibility however could be delayed due to water spread out and water points filled with rainy waters occurred in February at Sariska in Alwar district but hopefully the wild cat would be sighted, he said.

The Sariska forest was the most disturbed area as there were 23 villages in the sanctuary's core area, 40,000 cattle surviving on its grassland and water points and biotic interference every Tuesday and Saturday due to local temples in the vicinity where thousands of devotees throng with their vehicles, the official said.

In May 2004, 16 tigers were spotted in the census, he said, adding, "We are hopeful that they are still alive there."