DARRAH(
Kota): The forest department has decided to change its tiger relocation plan at Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) to provide a larger and contiguous habitat for the big cats.
Instead of releasing them at
Seljar range of MHTR as planned earlier, the tigers from
Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) will now be relocated to Darrah. The deadline for the project has been fixed at February-end.
But this could create serious issues like availability of prey in Darrah as the forest department has already shifted animals in large numbers to Seljar to create an adequate prey base.
This may jeopardise the entire Rs 24-crore project.
The decision to change the proposed relocation plan from the Seljar range to Darrah was taken after the standing committee members on wildlife, headed by former DGP Ajit Singh, visited the spot in September.
The committee chose Darrah as it would give tigers a contiguous habitat of 200 sq km, which is estimated to be larger than the core area of RTR.
The visit was made soon after receiving the nod from the
National Tiger Conservation Authority (
NTCA) to shift three tigers.
Following NTCA's approval, the wildlife department had initially shortlisted eight big cats - five males and three females - to be relocated from RTR. It has now shortened the list to four. Out of this, only three - one tiger and two tigresses - will be relocated to MHTR.
Tigers will have GPS-enabled radio collars: Official
"Four big cats have been identified for the project. Out of this, only three will be relocated. The big cats that have constantly moved out of RTR have been identified for relocation," state chief wildlife warden G V Reddy said.
Reddy, however, did not disclose which of the four would be shifted.
According to sources in RTR, the department is keen to relocate either of the two tigresses, T-60 or T-63, that have separated from their cubs. They have almost finalised tigress, T-78, for relocation.
The department is also considering one male tiger, T-91, that recently left Ranthambore and reached the forests of Bundi. The tiger was last traced to Ramgarh sanctuary of Bundi district.
The initial list of male tigers included T-62, T-75, T-77, T-91and T-85, and the females identified were T-78, T-81 and T-83. "Now, the forest department has decided to drop the proposal to shift tigress T-83 as it has a cub. After the cancellation, the department has proposed to relocate either T-60 or T-63. The department has nearly finalised tigress, T-78, also," said a source.
"The tigers will have GPSenabled radio collars. For this, we are collaborating with Wildlife Instiute of India (WII), Dehradun. Three teams will be constituted to monitor each tiger. Very high frequency (VHF) towers will be set up at strategic locations in the core area of Darrah to trace the cats," said a forest official.
Wildlife conservationists, meanwhile, voiced concerns over adequate prey base before releasing the tigers in the reserve. In MHTR's total area of 759.99 sq km, including a core area of 417.17 sq km and buffer of around 342.82 sq km, there are around 60 panthers, 1,000 cheetal/sambhar, 60 bears, 1,000 wild boars and 500 blue bulls. In Darrah range, which is only 200 sq km of the total MHTR, preys for tigers are available only in pockets.
Tapeshwar Singh Bhati, president of the Mukundra Hills Environment and Wildlife Society, Kota, said, "In Darrah region, the prey base is not sufficient and is available only in pockets. The tigers can find rich prey only in Jhamra pocket of Darrah. The forest department has to check human interventions in this area as it would affect breeding."
Representative Image
