Nagpur: To promote conservation of tigers in the forests of Northern Western Ghats, the Maharashtra Forest Department is all set to translocate eight tigers — three males and five females — from Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) to Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) soon.
The forest department is ready to initiate the project and it is waiting to get the green signal from the Union Environment Ministry to tranquillise the tigers in TATR for the translocation process. Northern Western Ghats is a key wildlife corridor between Maharashtra and Karnataka and this project is an important step towards tiger conservation.
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Wed 11 Dec. 2024
Sahyadri is the lone tiger reserve in the western region of Maharashtra. It is one of only five tiger reserves in the country — Kaval in Telangana, Satkosia in Odisha, Dampa in Mizoram and Kamlang in Arunachal Pradesh — which has zero tigers within the reserve.
STR is spread in Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra. Spread over 1,165 sq km, the reserve was notified in 2010 by amalgamating the Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary. This corridor allows connectivity of tiger population in Sahyadri Reserve, Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary, Amboli Reserve Forest, Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa and Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary and Kali Tiger Reserve in Karnataka. In the recent tiger census report, no evidence of tiger was captured on camera traps in Sahyadri.
The report also highlighted the threats posed to the wildlife corridor between the STR and Karnataka’s forests from mining activities, road projects and human settlements. Forest department got clearance from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in October 2023 and now it is waiting for the clearance from the Ministry.
As per the reports, in the first phase, a male tiger or a pair of male and female tigers would be translocated from TATR to STR. For translocation, the department has modified a special vehicle to transport the tigers from Chandrapur to Western Ghats. This vehicle has been installed with misting equipment for the comfort of the big cats while transporting. Like TATR, tigers will be also translocated from Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh too.
