Three days after translocation, tiger RT-91 makes first kill in Mukundra reserve

A male tiger--RT-91—that was translocated from Ranthambore to the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) in Rajasthan’s Kota earlier this month, killed its first prey on April 3, state wildlife officials said on Saturday.

The adult tiger killed a buffalo inside the reserve, three days after being tranquilized and relocated to the MHTR, said deputy conservator of forest (MHTR) T Mohanraj.

The tiger didn’t kill a prey for the first three days of its stay at the reserve as it had already been fed at the Ramgarh Vishdhari sanctuary but finally the big cat made its first kill within the reserve on April 7, where 22 cheetals and two buffaloes were kept as the prey base, he said.

The tiger mauled a buffalo calf early on April 3 and fed on it, said Mohanraj.

“Usually a tiger kills one prey in a week, which is sufficient for it,” he said, adding that it was a normal behaviour of a tiger.

In 2013, the MHTR was declared as the third tiger reserve in Rajasthan, but it took more than five years for the wildlife department to reintroduce a tiger in the reserve, where the big cats had disappeared from the forests for decades and RT-91 is the first tiger to be reintroduced at the reserve.

Born at the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Sawai Madhopur district, tiger RT-91 had left the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and was living in the peripheral forests near Bundi and was frequenting populated areas, wildlife officials said.

The wildlife department has housed RT-91 in 24 hectare enclosure within the MHTR for a soft release of the tiger and to help it get accustomed with the new environment of the reserve.