Tiger revival programme: Translocation of big cats to Madhav National Park in Madhya Pradesh to begin on March 10

Tiger. (Photo: Bindu Gopal Rao)

The Forest department will begin translocating a tiger and two tigresses to Madhav National Park (MNP) in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, which is devoid of big cats, from other tiger reserves in the state on March 10, an official said on Monday.

Shivpuri borders Sheopur district which houses the Kuno National Park, a new home for 20 cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa under the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction project.

"A tiger and two tigresses from different tiger reserves of MP will be shifted to the MNP, which is spread over an area of more than 350 sq km. The shifting will start from March 10," Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Subharanjan Sen told PTI.

Sen said this is the third time the MP forest department is going to re-introduce a tiger in a wildlife sanctuary, which is devoid of the majestic beasts.

Before this, the striped big cats were successfully rehabilitated in the Panna Tiger Reserve and the Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Sagar, he added.

According to Forest officials, MNP has a good prey base for big cats and the revival programme was cleared by the Centre.

The striped big cats would be most probably picked up from Panna, Satpura and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves for their translocation to the MNP, they added.

The big cats would be first kept in separate enclosures for some time in MNP before being released in the wild, the officials said.   "They are going to be radio-collared. Three teams have been formed to keep an eye on these big cats when they will be released in the wild, they added.   Sen said the number of tigers was fairly good in MNP in 1970.

According to local people, no tiger has been seen in and around MNP since 2010.

As per reports, tigers from Rajasthan roamed around MNP for some time in 2010-12.   Wildlife experts said MNP had lost its tiger population primarily due to hunting by royals.