Overview

• At dawn on June 25, a Royal Bengal tiger entered a Mardu village home, prompting owner Purandar Mahto to escort his children out and lock the animal inside.
• A joint team from Palamau Tiger Reserve and the Ranchi Forest Division spent 13 hours tranquilising and caging the animal under prohibitory orders within a 200-metre radius.
• Officials confirmed the male tiger, named Quila, as a Palamau reserve resident by matching its stripe patterns with camera-trap records from October 2023 near Palamu Fort.
• Quila is believed to have travelled hundreds of kilometres through old central Indian corridors, moving across Jharkhand districts including Chatra, Hazaribag and East Singhbhum before reaching Ranchi.
• Following a nine-hour transport and health assessment in Ranchi, Quila was placed in a soft-release enclosure at Palamau Tiger Reserve for monitoring ahead of eventual release into the wild.