India, June 17 -- The unexpected appearance of a Royal Bengal tiger in the forests of Paonta Sahib has put forest officials from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on high alert, initiating close monitoring of the big cat's movements.

It was captured on camera in the Khara block of the Paonta Sahib forest range in Sirmaur district, providing the first concrete evidence of a tiger's presence in the area following months of insistence by residents of Tokka and Lie villages who reported seeing vultures circling overhead.

While the forest department has yet to ascertain the animal's gender, field teams scanning a 500-hectare radius discovered fresh pugmarks, territory urine markings, and claw marks on trees, indicating the tiger has actively ...