BHUBANESWAR/BARIPADA: As tigress Jamuna is being conditioned in a special enclosure for smooth release and integration in the Similipal Tiger Reserve, the state Forest department has begun working on bringing in five more big cats to the wildlife habitat.
Officials said, the process for translocation of another tigress from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra has already started. The wildlife wing of the department has prepared a detailed project report (DPR) to supplement the protected area with a total six tigers in phases, they said.
“After relocation of the two female tigers, we will proceed with the plan of relocating the remaining four tigers. Determination of sex ratio and landscape for relocation of these tigers depends on the success of the ongoing translocation project,” said a top official of the wildlife wing.
He said the ongoing study on genetic compatibility among tigers in Similipal and Central India landscape by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) will help the forest department in this regard.
Sources in STR said though they have received approval from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to relocate two female tigers to Similipal, the DPR to bring six tigers is still under consideration. “We have been suggested to proceed with relocation of the big cats in phases with two tigers this year,” said an STR official.
Meanwhile, Forest and Environment minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia said the ongoing programme for relocation of two tigers to Similipal is being implemented by taking the local people into confidence.
STR field director Prakash Chand Gogineni said the process to bring the second tigress to Similipal will be initiated after November 3. It will be kept in an enclosure next to the existing one created for Jamuna.
The 31-month-old tigress will be released in Similipal core after a week as the veterinary officials and biologists have found it to be in good health, he said.