Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday had an "encounter" with a tiger at this National Park.

Accompanied by wife Gursharan Kaur, Mr Singh visited the Gudha area of the tiger reserve where a tigress, "Lady of the Lake," was sighted. Later when mediapersons asked him about this encounter the Prime Minister smiled and shyly admitted this was the first time he had seen a tiger.

Mr Singh, who had arrived here to address a meeting of field directors of the various tiger projects in the country, was taken to the park at around 6 in the morning, officials having identified Track 3 as a certain place for tiger sighting.

Prior to Mr Singh's arrival, a tigress was seen moving around with her two cubs.

However, the moment the PM's carcade reached the spot, the cubs went into hiding in a nearby drain.

According to Phul Chand, the forester who has been tracking this tigress for many days now, said there are three tigresses, along with four cubs, in the Jhalan area where they have been sighted quite regularly.

"Lady of the Lake" is around 15 years old and has two broken teeth which makes her identification easy.

Talking to the media, Mr Singh said one of the primary reasons for his visit the park was to gain first-hand knowledge of the problems and challenges posed in India's national parks and sanctuaries. He said his interactions with forest officials have brought out certain issues which need to be tackled immediately in order to sustain India's forest heritage and preserve it for future generations.

He said that there two major challenges - forest management and human interface - which need to be addressed immediately. Management problems could be solved by arranging funds for various things, including vehicles and guards to check poaching and other wildlife crimes. As for human interface, Mr Singh said it was more acute and needed innovative thinking and approach.