Tracking the Pug Marks

Pugmark is the term used to refer to the footprint of animals. “Pug” means foot in Hindi (Sanskrit पद् “pad”;

A strolling lion when walks on the dirt road leaves a huge print of pug. Each pug mark leaves a signature of the animal. It is an interesting science, used in counting big cats. Pugmarks are also used for tracking rogue animals which may be a danger to mankind or even to themselves because of injuries etc.

However it is not easy to isolate individual lions from a set of pug marks, only experienced and knowledgeable person can identify the pug marks and associate it with a particular animal.

As the finger prints of two human beings can not be identical, the difference in the pug marks of any two cats is inevitable.

The footprints can be used to describe individual animals. The shape, size, pad and alignment of toe and various other parameters not only help to identify different individuals, but also help to determine the sex, size, physical status and some times even the age of the animals.

However it is not easy to isolate individual cats from a set of pug mark plaster casts or tracing, photographic technique has often proved to be helpful for comparing the various parameters with point to point matching of pug mark prints to distinguish individuals.

Fresh pug marks help trackers to know the direction in which the big cat is moving.