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Mukundara Hills reserve may get tiger couple by December
Rachna Singh| TNN | Updated: Jun 9, 2017, 06.41 AM IST

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A village volunteer camera trap revealed a picture of tigress T-79 with a cub in Bhaironpur, Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary, RTR

JAIPUR: The Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve(MHTR), the third biggest cat habitat notified by the Rajasthan government in 2013, has so far had no tigers. This is going to change by this year-end. With the tiger population on a constant boom in the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve(RTR), the state government is gearing up to relocate a tiger couple to Mukundara by December 2017.



A day ago, a village volunteer camera trap revealed a picture of tigress T79 with a cub in Bhaironpur, Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary, RTR.
While there is only one cub in the picture, forest officials expect the number to be more. T79, daughter of T13, is a first-time mother and officials feel T42, a dominant male in the area, could be the father.

A few days back, another tigress T69 was spotted for the first time with cubs in the Thumka area of RTR. With this, the tiger population in RTR has crossed 60. "There are a total of 16-17 cubs now in RTR and the number could be more," said Y K Sahu, CCF, wildlife and field director, Ranthambhore.

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According to officials, it was only a few days back that the government took a decision to repopulate MTHR by shifting tigers by December 2017.

Located mostly in Rajasthan's Hadoti region, the reserve was expected to ease the big cat population pressure in Ranthambhore, and covers the existing Darrah, Jawahar Sagar and Chambal wildlife sanctuaries.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) already recognizes MHTR as an extension of the core area of the RTR. Currently, the reserve does not have tiger population of its own but serves as a natural extension to RTR.

The Mukundara reserve spreads across four districts-Kota, Bundi, Chittorgarh and Jhalawar- covering an area of 759 sq km. It boasts of a core area of 417 sq km and a buffer zone covering 342.82 sq km.

"There is a demand for shifting tigers to Mukundra and we hope to shift them this year. Officially, we also have permission to shift one male tiger to Sariska. RTR has a healthy number of tigers that are not necessarily dispersing but naturally straying out, something that we don't want to happen," said G V Reddy, CWLW.

The MHTR, however, is quite ready to receive tigers and has a fairly good prey base that can be further improved, he said.
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