Uttarakhand: Tigress translocated from Corbett to Rajaji Tiger Reserve

A tigress was translocated from Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) to Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) on Monday night.

Before the translocation, the tigress was tranquilised and its medical examination was conducted.

Dheeraj Pandey, director CTR said, “Our medical team tranquilised a five-year-old tigress on Monday night for translocation. A medical examination was conducted on her, and we found her healthy and fit for translocation”.

He said translocation is a very sensitive and long process.

“First, we have to identify and select those healthy big cats which could be capable of breeding. We have to keep a vigil on such big cats and when we consider them fit for breeding and survival at new places then they are rescued and relocated,” he said.

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Officials said on Monday night that a medical team headed by veterinary doctor Dushyant Sharma tranquilised an already-identified tigress in the Kalagarh area of CTR.

After following all the processes and guidelines, we sent her to RTR, he said.

The translocation process was adopted to increase the population of tigers in RTR under the Uttarakhand tiger relocation project.

The Centre approved the project in 2016 and a team of National Tiger Conservation Authorities (NTCA) visited CTR and RTR approving the project.

Under this project, five tigers are to be translocated from CTR to RTR.

So far, two big cats have been translocated, a tiger on December 24, 2020, and a tigress on January 8, 2021, from Corbett to Rajaji Tiger Reserve. They were caught from the Bijrani and Dhela zone of the CTR, the CTR director said.

However, the translocated tigers haven’t given birth to any cubs yet.

Due to Covid, the translocation of the remaining tigers was suspended in 2021.

Incidentally, the second translocated tigress had dropped its radio collar and went missing.

Later, it was spotted in the zone.

NTCA resumed the translocation process of three tigers after the CTR administration received a letter in this regard in March.

“After receiving the letter, we began the translocation process. Two tigers and a tigress are to be translocated. Two more tigers will be translocated in the next two phases”, said Pandey.

The project for the translocation of tigers to the western part of Rajaji was approved by the central government in 2016.

A total of five tigers, including two females, have to be translocated to Rajaji.

In September 2019, a team from the NTCA visited Rajaji to conduct reconnaissance for the translocation exercise and had suggested a soft release of a pair of tigers in the reserve’s western side.

In a soft release, tigers are released in a large enclosed area where they are kept for a few days to check if it has any diseases before it is completely released into the wild.

Rajaji Tiger Reserve has around 37 tigers with only two tigresses in its western part before the translocation project started.

The reserve has a carrying capacity of 83 tigers, according to a survey conducted by the state forest department.

The eastern and the western part of the reserve are divided by a busy traffic corridor making it difficult for the tigers to migrate between the two parts.