Bengal tiger sighted after pugmark alert in a Sunderbans village; night vigil on
Telegraph | 28 November 2025
Residents of a Sundarbans village spotted pugmarks of a Bengal tiger early on Thursday and, after a search lasting more than two hours, saw the animal resting beside a creek before it went into a nearby forest.
The first pugmarks were seen in Kishorimohanpur village under the Moipith Coast police station area. A river separates the village from the forest, a known tiger habitat.
“Around 6am, I stepped out of the house and saw a woman running towards us, shouting that she had seen pugmarks,” said Joydeb Jana, a resident of Kishorimohanpur. “The pugmarks were right in front of my neighbour Swapan Seet’s house.”
Villagers alerted the forest department and police.
“A search for the tiger started around 8am. Six villagers, including me, were part of the team,” Jana said.
After two hours of combing the area, they spotted the tiger beside a creek. “As we shouted, it jumped into the creek and entered a forest near the locality,” Jana said.
Forest officials said pugmarks were found around Kishorimohanpur and Achintya Nagar villages. Fresh ones were later traced towards the Thakuran Char forest. The forest is close to the villages and is contiguous with Ajmalmari, a known tiger habitat. Tigers often move between Ajmalmari and Thakuran Char.
From a conflict-management standpoint, however, the forest department prefers that tigers not linger in Thakuran Char, sources said.
A forest official said it was unclear where exactly the tiger exited the forest before entering the village area. But the trail of fresh pugmarks suggests it returned to the Thakuran Char forest.
“From there, it can move back to Ajmalmari or try moving towards the villages again. To prevent the second option, men have been stationed along the earthen embankments on the riverbank. Tyres are being burnt to scare the big cat away. A patrol boat has been deployed along the creek separating the forest and the human habitat,” the official said.
Forest guards, police personnel and members of the joint forest management committee will spend the night on guard, an officer said on Thursday evening.
Villagers accused the forest department of negligence in preventing tigers from straying into settlements.
“In winter, tigers tend to stray into villages more because of many factors. The nets meant to prevent tiger entry are poorly maintained and damaged in several places. There is also insufficient vigil by the forest department,” alleged Mithun Mondal, vice-president of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights in South 24-Parganas.
“Between last winter and now, there have been 40 incidents of tigers straying into villages. Several villagers have been injured,” he added.
The Telegraph recently reported two fishermen killed in tiger attacks while collecting crabs in the forests.