Reintroduction & Rewilding

[Sanju]

Sariska Tiger:

In 2003, 16 tigers lived in the reserve. In 2004, it was reported that no Bengal tigers were sighted in the reserve, and that no indirect evidence of tiger presence was found such as pug marks, scratch marks on trees, scats.

The Rajasthan Forest Department explained that "the tigers had temporarily migrated outside the reserve and would be back after monsoon season". Project Tiger, now National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), backed this assumption.

In January 2005, it was reported that that there were no tigers left in Sariska. The Rajasthan Forest Department and the Project Tiger Director declared an "emergency tiger census" in Sariska.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, India's intelligence agency, conducted a probe. After a two-month investigation, the agency finally declared that no tigers were left in the reserve. Poaching was blamed for the disappearance of tigers. The tiger reserve, in 2005, was left without any tigers, mainly because of poaching (by a bastard smuggler).

In 2005, the Government of Rajasthan, in cooperation with the Government of India and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), planned the re-introduction of tigers to Sariska and also the relocation of villages. Plans to construct a bypass were also discussed.

 In order to repopulate Sariska with tigers, three tigers were relocated to the reserve, and authorities planned to relocate two more tigers by the end of the following year. 

It was decided to import one male and two females from Ranthambore National Park. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) along with the Government of Rajasthan started tracking the relocated tigers with the help of ISRO's reconnaissance satellites.

Following this, a tiger re-population programme was introduced in 2008. The first aerial translocation of the male tiger (Dara) from Ranthambhore to Sariska was done on 28 June 2008 by Wing Commander Vimal Raj of the Indian Air Force (IAF) using a Mi-17 Helicopter.


Only two of the four villages' experts had said needed to be relocated were actually moved, though the second, Kankwari, was shifted long after the tigers were re-introduced.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tiger in the Sariska Tiger Reserve. The collar around its neck is used to track and monitor it.

However, Kankwari fort has been renovated by the state tourism department, which can possibly violate wildlife protection norms. The first relocated village was Bhagani. Also, the diversion of roads crossing the reserve, an issue critical to the survival of its wildlife, continues to be a problem.

One more tigress was shifted to Sariska from Ranthambhore in February 2009.

On 28 July 2010, another tigress was brought from Ranthambhore National Park.

Totaling five tigers — two males and three females — were living in the reserve until November 2010 when the first relocated tiger died due to poisoning.

Unfortunately, the first three of the relocated tigers came from one father.

Moreover, the first two tigresses have the same mother. The breeding of close relatives leads to inbreeding.

 In 2010, two tiger cubs and their mother were spotted in the reserve bringing the total number of tigers to seven with five adults. As a result, tigress ST-2 had littered four cubs — two in 2012 and two in 2014.

In July 2014, two more cubs were spotted by another tigress ST-10, so that there were 11 tigers in total. Of the seven shifted from Ranthambore, five were tigresses and two were tigers.

Two more cubs were sighted in August 2014, so that the population increased to 13 individuals.

As of October 2018, there are 18 tigers including five cubs.

Forest official sources said, till two years ago, there was a slow multiplication of the big cat population at STR, mainly due to large-scale miscarriages suffered by its tigresses. The main reason for non-breeding or inadequate breeding and several miscarriages was the large-scale human interference in the tiger habitat.

The forest department has decked up the security of the tigresses and the cubs, after alleged incidents of poaching this year. The ST-5 has been missing for past eight months.

Sariska Tigress Hunting in 2018 (This beautiful film follows a female tiger and a hot-blooded male over 18 months as they try to establish their new territory, learn to hunt their prey and dodge the ever-present threat of poachers):

Tigress ST-12 gives birth to 3 cubs at Sariska

*This image is copyright of its original author

Hidden cameras near a water body in Taalvraksh range captured the tigress with her three cubs on Aug 31, 2018.
Tiger population to grow at STR, were elated after tigress ST-12 gave birth to three cubs. Born in 2014, this is the first time ST-12 has given birth.

Hidden cameras placed near the water body in Taalvraksh range captured the mother with her three cubs on August 31 at 6.39 am . However, department came to know about the birth of these cubs nearly two days later, while checking the camera trap images.

The news has come as a respite for authorities of the STR after the death of ST-11 and ST-5, who had went missing in the recent past. The park is now home to eight tigresses, four tigers and five cubs. “It’s a good news for the reserve. Including these three newborn cubs, tiger population at STR has reached 17,” said divisional forest officer (DFO), Hemant Gupta, posted at STR.

According to the forest official, the father of these cubs is ST-11, with whom the tigress had mated in July. STR, infamous for poaching, has finally scripted a remarkable success story in tiger conservation, as this year, five cubs are born inside the park after a yawning gap . On April 28 this year, tigress ST-14 gave birth to two cubs.

Tigress ST-2 had littered four cubs — two in 2012 and two in 2014.

In 2014, another two cubs were littered by another tigress ST-10. 

Forest official sources said, till two years ago, there was a slow multiplication of the big cat population at STR, mainly due to large-scale miscarriages suffered by its tigresses. The main reason for non-breeding or inadequate breeding and several miscarriages was the large-scale human interference in the tiger habitat. Reply