Sariska Tiger Reserve Gets Tigress From Ranthambore; Tiger Count Climbs To 28 In Continuing Success Story

A tigress, aged three-and-a-half years old, was successfully moved on Friday (10 March) from Ranthambore National Park to Sariska Tiger Reserve.

Both Ranthambore (Sawai Madhopur district) and Sariska (Alwar district) are located in Rajasthan.

With the addition of the tigress, Sariska’s tiger count has risen to 28 — 14 tigresses, eight tigers, and six cubs, Divisional Forest Officer D P Jagawat said.

Permission to relocate two tigresses and one tiger was sought from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

The translocation of one tiger was completed earlier, while tigress T-134 was tranquillised and brought to Sariska on Friday (10 March), according to Jagawat.

“The exercise is part of targeted translocation to help sustain the tiger population in Sariska,” Bhupender Yadav, the Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, and chairperson of NTCA, said in a tweet, congratulating “all involved.”

Sariska, the former hunting reserve of the Maharaja of Alwar, is a tiger habitat spread over 1,203.34 square kilometres of the Aravalli Range.

It has faced undulating fortunes with respect to its tiger population. It was once a popular tiger reserve, but due to poaching and other factors, tigers went locally extinct here, in 2004.

The tiger recovery plan was suggested by the Wildlife Institute of India, and the initiative was executed in collaboration with the NTCA and the Forest Department of Rajasthan.

The tiger count in Sariska rose slowly and steadily over the years. It went up by two to reach 27 last month after the arrival of two new, roughly two-month-old cubs was confirmed on a camera trap.

Villages in Sariska are being relocated to increase the tiger population. Four villages have been moved out of Sariska in the last two and a half years, with 23 more due for relocation. Families in these villages are voluntarily moving out.

The relocation of villages not only helps with easing the biotic and abiotic pressures on the forest area, but also, it makes space for tigers and other wild animals to thrive.

While the principal predator in Sariska is the tiger, the forest area also has leopards and hyenas in large numbers. The caracal, jungle cat, nilgai, sambar deer, and rhesus macaque also record a sizable presence.

Sariska was designated as a sanctuary in 1955, and a part of its core was declared a national park in 1982. The tiger reserve in Sariska was created in 1978.

Soon, Sariska is also set to welcome two pairs of sloth bears. They will be brought in from the Sundha Mata forest area of Jalore district. The move will further enhance Sariska’s biodiversity credentials.

Besides Sariska and Ranthambore, Rajasthan has two other tiger reserves in Mukundra and, more recently, Ramgarh Vishdhari.