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Tigress T-106 relocated to Mukundra

TNN | Dec 19, 2018, 00:16 IST

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Jaipur: Boosted by the dismissal of a PIL by the Rajasthan High Court that was filed seeking a stay on shifting of big cats, the state forest department on Tuesday relocated tigress T-106 to the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) from the Ranthambore National Park (RNP).
The shifting finally took place nearly nine months after tiger Mirza was relocated to MHTR. After a day-long exercise, the tigress was tranquillised in the evening near Khara Chata area of Sultanpur range. Two-and-half year tigress was shifted to MHTR by road. The tigress was re-christened MT-2.

Y K Sahu, chief conservator of forest (CCF), wildlife, and field director, Ranthambore Tiger Project, Sawai Madhopur said, “After tranquillising, a GPS enabled collar was fitted around the tigress neck. It was safely shifted to the MHTR by road,” he said.

Daughter of T-39, tigress T-106 initially will be kept in the 24-hectare enclosure in the MHTR. “For the soft release of tigers, the MHTR has constructed an enclosure. The enclosure is being built to help the animal acclimatize before being released into the wild,” said an official at MHTR.

A forest official said this is the third time in the country when reintroduction of big cats has taken place in a tiger reserve in phased wise manner. Earlier, tiger reintroductions were done in Sariska (Rajasthan) and Panna (Madhya Pradesh).

The exercise to shift tigress started after the Rajasthan High Court on December 10 cleared the way for shifting of two tigresses from the (RNP) to the (MHTR) by dismissing a petition filed by an activist.


The bench of Justice Mohammed Rafiq dismissed the petition filed by an activist Ajay Shankar Dubey, which alleged that tiger T-91 was translocated to the Mukundra Hills without the requisite approval of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which is illegal and arbitrary on part of the state government.




The forest department in court earlier said that the tiger was shifted to the Mukundra Hills in April this year and since then the adult tiger is alone. Because of this, the stress level of T-91 may be increased and it will affect the behavior of the tiger. “The proposal submitted to the NTCA was for shifting a tiger and two tigresses and NTCA had given in- principle approval on July 24 this year,” informed an official.




But due to the case pending in court the department is not able to proceed with the translocation of the female tigresses which defeats the very purpose of translocation- that is repopulation of the tigers in the reserve.




The department in one of its application also mentioned, “Though mating of tigers happen any time of the year, in the regions with tropical climate this happens more frequently during the period between November and April when temperatures are colder. In such circumstances, it would be most appropriate that translocation of two female tigers from Ranthambore National Park to Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve as per permission issued by the NTCA.”

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