The male big cats in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna Tiger Reserve will soon have the company of two orphaned tigresses from Kanha Wildlife Sanctuary.
The male big cats in Madhya Pradesh’s (MP’s) Panna Tiger Reserve will soon have the company of two orphaned tigresses from Kanha Wildlife Sanctuary.
The state government led by Shivraj Singh Chauhan has sought the permission of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to translocate the four-year-old tigresses being raised in an enclosure at Kanha after their mother died in 2005.
“MP forest officials had initially planned to translocate a dispersing tigress from Bandhavgarh National Park to Panna, which does not have a single female big cat.But the officials soon realised that shifting the orphaned tigresses at Kanha would be a better option as they have gained strength, learnt hunting skills and become fit to be released into the wild,” sources said.
It was also felt that releasing the tigresses into the wild would give them a new home instead of the confinement of a zoo.
NTCA officials confirmed receiving the MP request, but said they would monitor the movement of the tigresses before taking any decision.
“They (female cats) have been in captivity for four years. The animals have been raised in wild-like situation, but it is important that they develop their wild instincts before they are released in a natural habitat,” they said.
The Panna reserve spread over 542 sq km in Chhatarpur and Panna districts has a skewed tiger sex ratio. A team of experts had earlier recommended immediate steps to avoid a repeat of the “Sariska episode”.
An NTCA official said, “The endangered animals will be radio-collared and kept under observation before and after their release.”
This will be the second translocation of its kind. A tiger and a tigress were successfully translocated last year from Rajasthan National Park to Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary, which was facing a dearth.
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