Goa wildlife census has indicated the presence of tigers, at least in four places in the coastal State confirming claims of environmentalists that the tourist destination is a home to the big cat.
According to State Forest Department officials tiger pug marks and scat were found in two wildlife sanctuaries, a corridor of Sahyadri mountain ranges running through States of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
A senior Forest Department officer confirmed indirect evidences of the wild cat at Mhadei and Mollem National Park.
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The census was held from April 27-May 4 across all the wildlife sanctuaries and government-owned reserve forests.
Forest Department officials and volunteers engaged in week-long wildlife census have found tiger scat at Surla and Nandran localities in Mollem National Park, 80 kms from here.
Nandran was a human habitation of 14 houses within the sanctuary, which was rehabilitated by offering alternate dwellings and land plots by the State Forest Department.
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The tiger pug marks were also found in two places at the catchment area of Anjunem dam, an irrigational facility constructed on Goa-Karnataka border.
The census has recorded pug marks of a tiger and cubs in the area, which was also earlier inhabited by humans.
Three villages were shifted from the catchment area during construction of this dam in North-East Goa in 80s.