JAIPUR: Ranthambhore
Tiger Reserve,
RTR is all set to become the nursery for tigers in
Rajasthan. The RTR as on date hosts the highest number of tigers in the history of the park. According to officials at the park, the total number of tigers in the park today is 67. Among them 21 are males, 20 females with a total of 26 cubs, which is getting beyond the carrying capacity of the park, with the tigers straying out in the nearby areas.
Today three tigers (T-72, 80 and 92) from RTR have naturally strayed out in
Karauli forests. Among them one is female and two are males. Add to that one tiger (T-91) is known to be in Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary, Bundi and T-47 that had strayed to the Bhid in the
Banas river area is said to have come back to RTR. Besides, the number of tigers that have strayed into
Madhya Pradesh is not known exactly. Now among the tigers to be translocated are, three tigers for Mukundara and the
NTCA permission to translocate one more tiger to
Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) is long pending. In hind sight too, when in 2005, STR became the first protected sanctuary to lose all its tigers to poaching, RTR tigers re-populated the reserve. In 2008 tiger reintroduction plan began eight tigers from Ranthambore were brought to STR from 2008-13.
Tigress ST-9 and 10 were the last ones to be relocated from RTR to STR in 2013. Gradually the reserve population increased. Tigress ST 2 littered two cubs, both females, in 2012. Both of them are now adults. In 2014, ST 2 gave birth to a male and a female cub. The same year another tigress ST 10 littered two cubs - a male and a female. Today the total of tigers in STR is 13, with 7 females, 2 males and 4 cubs.
"Ranthambhore and other reserves is assumed to be similar as both habitats are part of semi-arid tracts in
Aravalli hills, therefore to maintain the uniqueness of genetic stock of tigers in semi- arid tract the best choice will be Ranthambhore tigers. Tigers from RTR have so far re-populated other tiger reserves in Rajasthan," read a study on tiger relocation to Sariska.
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The RTR as on date hosts the highest number of tigers in the history of the park
