Nagpur: Twenty days after a tigress was captured from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) and shifted to Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha, one more tigress was transported to the eastern state on Wednesday, a local media report said.
The project to translocate tigresses from Tadoba is part of the supplementation plan for the revival of the tiger population and ensure genetic diversity. Earlier this year, the Odisha Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) had sought permission to translocate two tigresses (2-3 years old) from Tadoba.
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Tuesday 12 Nov. 2024
Simlipal is well known for its black tigers, a rare variant of the Bengal tiger, found exclusively in Odisha’s tiger reserve. Researchers attribute its unique dark coat to a mutation in the Taqpep gene, causing pseudo-melanism. Simlipal’s ecosystem, with its diverse flora and fauna, supports this rare tiger population.
According to the report, the tigress captured on Wednesday is S1, one of the three-year-old cubs of resident tigress T-163 from the Karwa-Mohurli forest ranges border. The tigress was picked up from a non-tourism zone.
Earlier, on October 26, 2024, a three-year-old tigress S3, a cub of resident tigress Babli alias T158, was captured by TATR’s Rapid Rescue Team (RRT) from Navegaon. The tigress was released in an enclosure in Simlipal.
The report said the latest tigress was captured around 3.30pm on Wednesday and shifted in the evening by a forest team from Odisha. With this, the quota of two tigresses to be translocated from Tadoba as permitted by NTCA was completed.
Earlier, a similar translocation project in 2018 in Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve by introducing tigers from Madhya Pradesh failed miserably. The NTCA 2022 estimation report said that a genetically unique and small population of tigers in Simlipal is of high conservation priority in the landscape.
This is the second time that tigresses from Tadoba will be translocated. Earlier, in April this year, a young tigress from the reserve was released in the Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) in Gondia-Bhandara districts to augment the tiger population.
