Ranthambore tigress gives birth to 3 cubs, big cat tally at national park rises to 77
JAIPUR: Three newborn tiger cubs have been spotted at the Ranthambore National Park, taking the big cat population there to 77, said forest officials.
The cubs were seen with tigress T-63 in the ChindwariLalpura area of the park and are the third litter of the big cat, who is the offspring of T-19 (born to the famous Macchli tigress, who was the world’s oldest-surviving tigress in the wild), said Sanjiv Sharma, assistant conservator of forest.
Camera traps at the forest captured the images of the tigress with her cubs on Saturday. The reserve now has 20 tigers, 30 tigresses, and 27 subadults and cubs, apart from four tigers each in Keladevi and Dholpur ranges of the reserve.
Rajasthan chief minister
Ashok Gehlot expressed happiness about the news on microblogging platform Twitter. “It’s so good to see Tigress T-63 with 3 new cubs in Ranthambore! The tigress with cubs is a sight to behold! Always a nice feeling that wildlife is thriving in Rajasthan,” he tweeted.
In 2015, the tigress had given birth to two females, T-93 and T-94; in 2018, she bore two male tigers, T-120 and T-121.
A month ago in September, another tigress, T-105, was sighted with three cubs in the Tapkan-Sultanpur area in zone-1 of the park.
Conservationists and wildlife lovers are excited about the development but are also worried if the park would have adequate area to contain all the tigers. A forest official said that tigers are territorial animals and often have fights over territory, forcing the loser to go elsewhere, and increasing the chances of man-animal conflict.
In view of this, CM Gehlot had earlier this year directed forest officials to form a panel of experts to explore the possibility of shifting some tigers out of Ranthambore. The panel was constituted in July and its report is awaited.
A forest official said that due to increasing population territorial disputes are rising among big cats, resulting in migration.
Citing the example of tigress Ridhi and Siddhi, the official said they have injured each other a number of times due to territorial disputes and therefore need to be relocated to Sariska Tiger Reserve but the process hasn’t even started in the last two months despite all necessary approvals.
Retired Indian Forest Service officer Sunayan Sharma said the relocation of tigers should be a priority to reduce territorial fights and man-animal conflict. “The kind of management done here is not scientific as the carrying capacity of a forest should be the guiding principle. Relocation and habitat improvement of tigers should be done simultaneously,” he said.
Sharma said old tiger habitats should be revived and developed such as Ramgarh Vishdhari, MHTR, and Raoli Todgarh in Udaipur.
The Centre has already been working on this. In July, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change sanctioned Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary in Bundi as the fourth tiger reserve of Rajasthan. The other three — Ranthambore, Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar and Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Kota have around 100 big cats between them.
The National Tiger Control Authority also formed a fourmember committee in July that has found a fifth potential tiger reserve in Kumbhalgarh wildlife sanctuary after surveying the area in the last two months. But it has some concerns that need to be addressed first, said people aware of the development.