BHOPAL: The number of tiger at Panna Tiger Reserve is likely to go up soon. The last tigress translocated to the much talked about Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) last year, and named T-5 is expected to give birth to cubs shortly.
"Tiny new guests are expected to arrive in the park anytime," a top forest department official told TOI. The impending T-5 litter is likely to provide impetus to tiger population revival programme underway in the PTR which had become devoid of big cats in early 2009 due to poaching incidents. Three other tigresses re-introduced in PTR had already begotten cubs. Four tigresses from Kanha and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves, and one tiger from Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) have been translocated to Panna to revive big cat population since 2009.
Tigress T-1- the first translocated striped animal had given birth to cubs twice. In the first and second litter, four cubs each were born to it. Two cubs of the first litter died and it had abandoned a cub of second litter some months ago. This tigress was brought to PTR from Bandhavgarh. Likewise, T- 2 shifted to PTR from Kanha had given birth to 7 cubs in two litters and T -4 had begotten 2 cubs. T-4 and T-5 tigresses brought from Kanha were semi-wild when introduced in PTR. The tigresses were hand-reared in an enclosure after the striped-animal that gave birth to them died.
