Tigers can also be identified by their kills. Pug marks can be seen only in sandy areas. On hard ground or on vegetation, the Tiger will not leave any mark.
A grown Tiger will have a pug mark whose diameter is more than 10 cms. Panthers make smaller prints. They know it's a Tiger cub and not a Panther when a cub pug mark is accompanied by an adult pug mark.
"This year we found cub pug marks so we know that breeding is happening in this forest," Bhadrasamy said.
To count Tigers or any other wild animals, the most accurate method is the camera trapping method. They require 20 cameras to cover one section completely. The cameras are shifted once in six months till they cover the entire sanctuary.
Thus they will have a fingerprint of the entire forest area. Two tigers never have the same stripes. Like fingerprints, tigers' stripes are unique. This helps identify them.
The cameras click when there is any movement that breaks their beams. The cameras with rolls cost Rs 10,000 and the digital ones twice that. The Deputy Director has asked for the cameras in this year's budget and he will get it. So next year, we can expect an accurate count.
Image: A pawprint of a Royal Bengal tiger in Sajnekhali, 125 kms south of Calcutta.
Photograph : Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: 'It is the end of the road for the Indian tiger' 
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