Large male tigers from India (Videos Only)

[Apollo]

Umred-Karhandla tiger Jai fitted with radio collar



Jai, arguably the state's biggest male tiger, was on Tuesday morning radio collared at Umred-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary by a team of experts from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, and Pench forest officials.

Jai is the third tiger to be fitted with a satellite collar after a male 'Gabbar' at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) and tigress 'Chhoti Tara' from Jamni in October 2014 under a special project to monitor tigers. TOI was the first to report on May 1 about the imminent collaring of 'Jai' and one of the problem tigers outside Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Pandharkawda in Yavatmal district.
The tigers are being fitted collars under the 1.70 crore 'Long-term comprehensive monitoring of tigers, co-predators, and prey animals', jointly being implemented by the forest department, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and WII.

"Earlier, the radio-collaring project was confined to dispersing tigers from Tadoba and its landscape but the same was extended to Tipeshwar and Umred-Karhandla," said Sarjan Bhagat, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) for wildlife, Maharashtra. Bhagat also revealed that a similar 1 crore project titled 'Radio-collaring of tigers in Eastern Vidarbha landscape' will be implemented soon. "It will include satellite collaring of 15 tigers in Vidarbha. The NTCA has recommended the project to ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC)," Bhagat said.

Pench officials had planned to collar Jai last month, but the rains ensured he could not be tracked. "For the past three-four days, our team had been tracking Jai, also called as UK T1. Finally, it was majestically walking on the road at around 9am on the Ranbodi Tippat trail when the team led by WII scientist Bilal Habib tranquillized the tiger," said MS Reddy, chief conservator of forests (CCF) & field director of Pench. Additional PCCF for wildlife Meyipokyim Aier, assistant conservator of forests (ACF) Uttam Sawant, WII scientist Dr Parag Nigam, range forest officer (RFO) GF Luche and field staff were present.

The majestic Jai had migrated from Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) in September 2013 and sired as many as 11 cubs from four females in Umred-Karhandla. He covered huge distances in the sanctuary as well as in the park periphery.

Jai has also ventured near villages, causing fear among locals. It has preyed on cattle causing resentment. In March this year, Karhandla villagers had even threatened to close down the sanctuary after Jai killed a bullock.

After the Karhandla incident, Pench officials had sought permission from PCCF (wildlife) to radio collar Jai so that his movements and human interface could be monitored by trained staff. "Permission was granted to radio-collar Jai, who is arguably one of the biggest tigers in the Central Indian landscape. The mission was accomplished in just 30 minutes," said Reddy.
WII scientist Habib said, "After collaring, Jai soon got back to his senses and moved about normally and is in sound health. The team of forest rangers and guards will now constantly monitor its movement and whereabouts. The signals through satellite will also be received by the field director and WII scientists."



COLLAR TIGHT


Kala: Also known as Tass tigress was rescued and released in November 2012 from an open irrigation well near Tass in Bhiwapur. It was radio-collared by then PCCF SK Khetarpal. The collaring led to new findings on Tadoba corridor and habitat

Gabbar: The full grown male from Tadoba was collared under NTCA-WII-forest department joint project in October 2014. Collaring helped find out the male's territory and park dynamics

Chhoti Tara: The female tigress from Tadoba was collared in October 2014, a few days after Gabbar was fitted with a collar. It helped Tadoba understand tiger occupancy, breeding, prey base, ecology in the park

Sukhwasi: The six-year-old tigress, which was hand-reared in captivity at Pench, was collared to be released in its original habitat but it failed to survive and was captured again in June this year

Jai: Two male tigers, Jai and Viru, were born in 2010 to tigress Mai in Nagzira wildlife sanctuary. While Viru is feared poached, Jai migrated in search of a female to Umred-Karhandla in September 2013. Jai is a tourist-friendly tiger and never disappoints if sighted.


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