Post re-introduction drive, Panna reclaims its tiger populace

Bhopal: After the successful tiger re-introduction programme in Madhya Pradesh, Panna Reserve that lost all its big cats to poaching four years ago, now boasts of having 23 tigers in its wild.

The tiger re-introduction programme was launched in 2009 by translocating tigers (one male and four females) from other reserves in the state, Forest Minister Sartaj Singh said.

After settling in the new environment, tigress T-1 had given birth to cubs twice, tigress T-2 and T-4 thrice, official sources said.

T-1's two male cubs have now even established their own territory in the Panna Tiger Reserve while T-2 and T-4 have also separated from their first and second litter in just over 12-13 months period, they said.

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At present T-2 and T-4 are roaming and training their five cubs under their watchful eyes in the wild.

The Forest Minister said that at present the sex-ratio of big cats in Panna is in a bit of disbalance as there are more male tigers in the wild than female ones.

To address this problem the Reserve authorities have decided to translocate two more tigresses from other reserves and also obtained permission to shift few male tigers to other tiger reserves.

Earlier, it was believed that its impossible to relocate any tiger from its natural habitat to other reserves but after the successful experiment in Panna, this myth has been dispelled.

PTI