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Hand-bred tigress gives birth to two cubs in Madhya Pradesh: 30 tigers in Panna now


Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh has added another feather to its cap. 

In a major boost to efforts to revive tiger population at PTR where the feline population had disappeared completely a few years ago, T5 the hand-bred tigress has given birth to two cubs in its first litter. From zero in early 2009, the number of tigers at PTR has hit 30 with these new arrivals. 

Tigresses T4 and T5 were born at KNP in May 2006 and within days her mother had died. These two tigresses were semi-wild ones and had spent most of her time in KNP inside an enclosure after being orphaned. 

They were shifted to PTR in 2011 respectively. Both settled well. In November 2011, T4 had become the world's first hand-bred feline shifted to the wild, to spawn two cubs. 

"It had abandoned its cubs born from the second litter in April this year," PTR director R S Murthy told TOI. 

T4 and T5 were then reared in an enclosure and fed by KNP. The semi-wild tigress was carted out to Panna and released into the wild in March 2011. 

"There were apprehensions about its survival in the wild, but she picked up soon, going for kills in the deep forest, where it met a lone translocated tiger, and mated," said PTR officials. 

Earlier, two translocated tigresses had given birth to eight cubs at PTR, of which six had survived."But both were wild tigresses, unlike hand-reared and shifted like T4," said the officer. 

Another tigress T2, shifted from KNP in 2009, had given birth to three cubs in 2013. This was its third litter. In February it had eaten the cub, born nine months ago. 

In early 2009, PTR had lost all its tigers and the big cats were subsequently reintroduced to revive their population. 

When the relocation programme began in 2009, wildlife experts across the world doubted its success. Now the project is being seen as the most successful try-out ever. 

Of the founder population, four were females -T1, T2, T4, T5 and a male T3. 

Nine of their cubs are males and two females. Two males from the first litter of T1 have already established their territories in the park. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/...298340.cms
 

 

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Skins of leopard, otter seized and Poachers arrested


The skin and bones of a leopard and an otter's hide were seized from the forests of Baikunthapur in North Bengal on Friday. 

"We have arrested three persons, all residents of Rajasthan. Initial investigation has revealed that the skins were supposed to be sent to China via Nepal," said DFO D Rai. 

As many as 87 leopard deaths have been reported across the country this year alone — 38 of them due to poaching. Last year, 327 leopard deaths were reported, of which an alarming 110 were poaching cases. 

Foresters said they received a tip from villagers on suspicious movements in the forest of Baikunthapur. "We strengthened our watch and nabbed the poachers on Friday morning. People from certain tribal communities in Rajasthan are expert hunters. We are grilling them to get more information on the racket," said a forest department official. 

The leopard is considered a 'near threatened' animal. Reports reveal that about 3,000 leopards were poached in India between 1994 and 2013.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/...250285.cms
 

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