Recently shifted tiger may have found a partner

The male tiger (MB2) sent to Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger reserve from the Kanha National Park in June this year has most probably mated with the resident female tigress of Satkosia, officials said.

Senior scientist of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) K Ramesh who is monitoring the movement of MB2– a three- to four-year-old Royal Bengal tiger– said, “The tiger, which has been radio-collared for proper tracking, has been captured on camera going side by side with the resident female tigress who is around 8-10 years old, mid-August. The exact moment of mating has not been captured on camera, but the body language… of both the animals show that they are compatible and …the probability of their mating is very high.”

The principal chief conservator of forests (wild life) Sandeep Tripathy said he was thrilled by the news about the compatibility of the two tigers.

This was the first interstate translocation of tigers in India and a lot of red flags had been raised by wild life activists. But given the dwindling number of tigers in Satkosia, the translocation of tigers to repopulate the reserve was necessary. Also, there were protests by villagers living around the tiger reserve who had even threatened to kill the tigers.

Tripathy added “We are holding meetings with the villagers living in surrounding areas to sensitise them and asking them not to be unnecessarily afraid.”

Apart from the male, a tigress from Bandhavgarh has also been translocated to Satkosia and there are plans to translocate four other tigers (two pairs) from Madhya Pradesh later. The plan has been cleared by the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change, National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

The Bandhavgarh tigress is still exploring the area. “It appears to be afraid of the dominant female of Satkosia, with which Yuvraj has mated, and is still in the process of settling down,” Ramesh added. Sources said that since both the animals from Madhya Pradesh are radio-collared and are being monitored, if they get anywhere near the villages they are pushed back to the forest with the help of elephants

BHOPAL:

REPRESENTATION PICTURE/ PCCF(WILDLIFE), ODISHA The news about the potential compatibility between the two tigers has brought joy to wildlife officials.