Bhopal, Oct 9 (PTI) A tiger cub roaming on the campus of the prestigious Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) here since the last five days was finally photographed by cameras set up on the premises, a forest official said on Sunday.

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The institute had moved to online teaching mode on Thursday for a day, after forest officials found pug marks and confirmed the presence of the big cat in the campus, the official said.

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MANIT, which has a strength of 6,000-odd students, is spread over 650 acres, of which 100 acres are covered with thickets, the institute's registrar Binod Doley told PTI over phone.

Talking to PTI, Bhopal divisional forest officer (DFO) Alok Pathak said, “Our cameras have clicked photos of the big cat T- 123-4 male cub, aged more than two years born to T-123, in the MANIT campus on Saturday.”

At least 50 forest personnel have worked for the last five days and set up cameras to capture images of the big cat, and the move finally paid off yesterday, he said.

According to behavioural studies on tigers, they move out from a place in seven to eight days. This is the animal's sixth day on campus, and he might move out in a day or two, the official said.

A tiger forms a territory in an area of 25 sq km and moves within it, killing and resting, he said.

The big cat was living in a low-lying area like a ravine spread over a forest area of around 300 to 400 acres, which was connected to the thickets in the MANIT campus, the official said.

“We have put a cage with a bait in the closed campus,” Pathak said.

Tigers from Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, spread in Raisen and Sehore districts close to Bhopal, move in the Kerwa area of the state capital.

This time around, one of them, T-123-4, has strayed into the campus, he said.

According to forest officials, the tiger has killed two cows in the MANIT campus, as some of the staff owns cattle.

Meanwhile, the institute will hold offline classes on Monday, an official said.

“We had switched to online teaching on Thursday after the forest officials informed us about the big cat's pug marks in the campus. The next day, we went offline after the DFO told us in writing there was no threat to students and MANIT can go for offline classes," MANIT public relations officer Dr Amit Ojha said.

There was no need to panic or worry given that they have cordoned off the area where the big cat was staying, he said.

At least 1,000-odd people who are families of staffers and teachers and 5,000 hostellers living in the campus have been asked to stay indoors at night and early mornings when it is dark, MANIT registrar Doley said.

“We have carried out drills in the campus to deal with emergencies,” he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)