23.3.09

Another tiger for Panna....

With the lone tiger in the Panna reserve yet to be traced, Madhya Pradesh forest officials are now planning to translocate a tiger in the reserve next month as the two tigresses shifted recently have no partner to mate. “We are going to translocate a male big cat in the reserve next month,’’ Panna reserve director Lallan Choudhary said. Evidence of some big cat, possibly a tiger, has been noticed in the areas close to the reserve but not in the reserve. “We are verifying the evidence but at the same time we are also not giving up our plan to bring in a tiger to the reserve,’’ he added. “We have already sought permission from the Centre to translocate a tiger in Panna from some other reserve in MP,’’ he said. A tiger was last sighted in Panna in January, Choudhary said. He added that the two tigresses translocated in Panna have adjusted in the reserve environs and were doing fine. “These felines were being monitored closely with the help of radio collars fitted around their neck,’’ Choudhary added. Nearly 10 days ago, a tigress each from Bandhavgarh and Kanha were translocated to Panna, spread in over 540 sq km in Panna and Chhatarpur districts of eastern MP. The state forest officials had gone in for the shifting after the big cat population in Panna dwindled to an alarming level. According to a census conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India, there were between 15 and 32 big cats in the reserve two years ago.

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