Will Rajaji take cue from Panna’s tiger success?

The Times of India , Saturday, August 23, 2014
Correspondent : Seema Sharma
DEHRADUN: Rajaji National Park (RNP) was accorded the status of a tiger reserve by the Centre in May 2013 after an expert committee found that the sanctuary housed 12-14 tigers within its 920-square-km area. But, since then RNP has lost all its tigers, barring perhaps one tigress.

To worsen matters, state forest department has seemed coy with the idea of translocating tigers from other parts of the country the way Panna Tiger Reserve did. By 2009, the Madhya Pradesh-based sanctuary had lost all its tigers, save one tiger. But fast-forward to 2014, PTR is home to 24 tigers, and officials are confident that the tiger reserve can be home to another six tigers.

So the question arises as to why Rajaji can't replicate PTR's success. Friday provided Rajaji officials a perfect opportunity when Harbhajan Singh Pabla, former chief conservator of Madhya Pradesh forests, came to town to attend Wildlife Institute of India's annual research seminar. During his speech, Pabla said how, under his reign, tigers had started vanishing inexplicably by 2007.

"Tigresses disappeared and only a handful of tigers remained in 2007. We could not assess a single reason for these disappearances," he said. "By the time, the government machinery was apprised of the matter, Panna had just one tiger surviving in the sanctuary."

It was in 2009 when the MP government overhauled PTR's staff. In March 2009, the Reserve brought in tigresses, named T1 and T2, from Panha and Bandhavgarh for the sole tiger remaining there. However, the tiger went missing soon, compelling officials to relocate a tiger (T3) from Pench. Additionally, two more orphaned tigresses were brought in from Kanha to further increase the chances of mating.

Security for the big cats was beefed up as well. Radio collars were introduced to keep a 24/7 vigilance on these tigers. This initiative helped to rein in poaching. Locals, viewed as a threat, were resettled as well as they took pride in killing animals.

By 2010, Pabla said, both female tigers gave birth to a litter of four cubs each. He also mentioned that Panna Reserve had handpicked these tigresses. "We looked at the pedigree of the tigresses before they were translocated," he said, adding that relocation of big cats coupled with security hike had enabled Panna Reserve Forest to have a healthy tiger population. "With number of tigers growing leaps and bounds, the Reserve is now planning to introduce a tiger and two tigresses more to maintain a healthy sex ratio."

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/Will-Rajaji-take-cue-from-Pannas-tiger-success/articleshow/40710198.cms
 


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