This is the first time a wild tiger is being re-introduced in a reserve anywhere in the country. The STR, which was brought under Project Tiger in 1978, lost all its tigers in 2004-05 to suspected poaching.

“It is a historic moment. The country has done it, while others have failed,” said R.N. Mehrotra, Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan, “This kind of wild-to-wild relocation has not taken place anywhere else,” he said.

“The tiger is in good shape. The operation was successful in every respect but for hiccups caused by the vagaries of weather.”

Rajesh Gopal, Director, National Tiger Conservation Authority of India, said: “The effort is the first step towards successful re-establishment of tigers in Sariska.”

The plan is to release five tigers in Sariska over two years. The next one, a female, is expected to be released in a week and another tigress, some time in winter. Saturday’s pick of a tiger was a chance for, according to the plan a female was to be introduced first.

It was a 35-40 minute operation, in which an MI-17 Indian Air Force helicopter took off with the tranquillised tiger in a custom- made cage from the Anantpura helipad inside the Ranthambhore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district to the helipad built near the Nayapani tiger holding area inside Sariska.

Two experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Mr. Mehrotra, Rajpal Singh, a member of Rajasthan’s Empowered Committee on Forest and Wildlife, flew in the helicopter.

The chopper took off at 11.45 a.m. and landed around 12.20 p.m.

The tiger had regained consciousness by the time it was wheeled out of the helicopter to the enclosure some 200 metres away. It walked into its new home with feline grace.

“In about four hours, we carried out the exercise. From darting the tiger in its habitat in Ranthambhore to releasing it in Sariska everything went off with clock-work precision,” said P.R. Sinha, Director, WII, who supervised the operation along with experts from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Rajasthan Forest Department, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and the Air Force.

“Sariska was a prestige issue for all involved,” Dr. Sinha said, pointing out that the problems which might have led to the extinction of the tiger population in Sariska was looked into. “There are more things to be done. We are in the process. One village has been moved out of Sariska to everybody’s satisfaction while four more may follow suit,” he said.

Earlier in the morning, uncertainty prevailed as both Ranthambhore and Sariska received incessant rain and the recently built helipads turned slushy. “We were keeping our fingers crossed till the helicopter landed. In fact, we were not sure whether it would land at Nayapani or at Jaisinghpura in Thana Gazi tehsil, some 25 km away,” said P.S. Somasekhar, Field Director, STR.

Rajasthan Minister for Forests and Environment Pratap Singh Singhvi and Environment and Forest Secretary Meena Singh witnessed the occasion, though journalists were kept out of the scene.

Dr. Sinha said the STR had a holding capacity of 50 tigers and a very good prey base.