Tiger, bison sighted at record altitude in Sikkim

A tiger has been sighted at a height of 3966 metres in Sikkim’s Gangtok district, which is a national record in terms of high altitude where the wild cat is seen roaming, Forest and Environment Department officials said on Wednesday.

A gaur or Indian bison was also found at an altitude of 3568 metres in East Sikkim, which is a world record, the officials said adding that the herbivore mostly remains below 1800 metres.

Camera traps captured the male tiger at Kyongnosla Wildlife Sanctuary recently.

The Forest and Environment Department, in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), had jointly laid camera traps across high-altitude regions of Sikkim to understand the impact of climate change on large mammals, officials said. It is the third sighting of a tiger in Sikkim in recent years. While one was seen in North Sikkim at an altitude of 3602 metres in 2019, another was sighted in 2023 from Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary at 3640 metres.

The highest altitude recorded for tigers in the world is in Bhutan at 4,400 metres above sea level.

The gaur or Indian bison was captured by camera traps at an elevation of 3568 metres in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, the officials added. Gaur is the world's largest cattle species and is endemic to south and southeastern Asia, and most of its population is in India. The animal plays an important role in the food chain being an important prey for large carnivores such as tigers, common leopards, and Asiatic wild dogs. Other animals photographed via camera traps include Sambar deer, Dhole or wild dog, Himalayan Black Bear, Musk Deer, Serow (a goat-like animal), Mithun (a cattle) and Goral (another goat-like mammal).

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