MP tiger reserves witness baby boom

Tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh are currently witnessing a baby boom, literally.

Tiger cubs trailing their mothers have almost become a common sight in the majority of the six tiger reserves in the state.

“More than 125 tiger cubs have been spotted in tiger reserves in the state”, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest of Madhya Pradesh Alok Nath said.

Ground level forest officers, however, say the number of tiger cubs in reserve forests may cross 220. “I would say even 220 is a modest estimate, considering the overwhelming growth of tiger population witnessed in the reserve forests in MP in the last one year”, a senior forest officer, a key conservation strategist in the state forest department, told this newspaper here on Friday on condition of anonymity.

Bandhavgarh tiger reserve, known as tiger nursery of India, has literally been overflowing with the tiger cubs currently.

“At least 41 tiger cubs have been sighted in different forest ranges in Bandhavgarh tiger reserve in the past few months”, the forest officer said.

According to Bandhavgarh tiger reserve field director Vincent Raheem, two cubs each were sighted in Badkhera, Chanchura, Barhalli, and Panpatha forest beats, four cubs each were sighted in Kallhabah, Dhamkhore, Khitauli and Tala forest ranges, 12 cubs were sighted in Pataur forest range and five cubs were sighted in Magdhi forest range under the tiger reserve.

All the cubs are aged between five and ten months.

Madhya Pradesh which piped Karnataka to earn the tag of “Tiger State” by housing the largest number of 526 big cats in 2018, has enjoyed a healthy male, female ratio in tiger population.

While one third of the total tiger population in MP is males, the rest two thirds are females.

As per the 2018 tiger census released in 2019, tigers were sighted in 1,432 forest beats in different tiger reserves in the state.

Three other tiger reserves have also witnessed similar phenomena, the forest officer said. There are six tiger reserves in MP.