One tigress heading towards Kanha, second makes Nagzira home

Nagpur: Will the purpose of releasing two young tigresses in Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) to augment tiger numbers in the park be defeated? Fifty-three days after the two tigresses were translocated to Nagzira wildlife sanctuary, the animals are yet to settle down.

One of the radio-collared tigresses NT1 has even moved into the NNTR-Kanha corridor, 60km away from Nagzira where it was released, and is said to be 50km away from the Kanha National Park boundary in Madhya Pradesh.

The two tigresses, one captured from Armori (Gadchiroli), and another from Pangdi (Tadoba buffer), were released amid much fanfare in the core area of Nagzira on May 20 by the forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. This is the first conservation translocation experiment by Maharashtra.

As per the telemetry data from May 20 to July 11, 2023, NT1 travelled 358km in the last 53 days while NT2 moved 224km. The chances of NT1 returning to the park seem to be bleak as since the day it was released, it stayed inside the core area for only four days. For 34 days, it wandered into the buffer zone, and for 10 days it was in Gondia territorial forest. For the last five days, the tigress is in the Balaghat forest in Madhya Pradesh.

Similarly, NT2 (Pangdi) has been using both core and buffer areas. For 40 days the tigress was in the core area and 13 days in the buffer. NNTR field director Jayarame Gowda R says, “The tigress is shuffling between buffer and core. Both the animals have been avoiding habitation and are so shy that they run away from seeing humans. During the 53 days, they encountered all sorts of difficulties but overcame them.”

On the purpose being defeated, PCCF (wildlife) Maheep Gupta said, “Presently, no inference can be made out of the tigresses’ movement. While NT2 is in the core, NT1 moved on the Maharashtra side and again went towards Balaghat. It is moving in the NNTR-Kanha corridor. We can push NT1 to our side but it is risky and may cause conflict.”

Gupta said, “The monitoring is going well except at times when getting signals become a problem due to rains and vegetation. We will release the other three tigresses as well as per the decided plan. Even if the NT1 reaches another protected area, it is good from a gene flow point of view. Apart from population augmentation, one of the aims was also to curb conflict in the Tadoba landscape.”

‘Tigresses are demonstrating behaviour of areas from where they were captured’

The tiger conservation translocation undertaken in NNTR facilitates the release of five females within the protected area in a phased manner. The first phase of the program was marked by the release of two individuals – NT1 & NT2 - in Nagzira sanctuary. WII scientist Bilal Habib who collared the animals says the experiment is just a beginning and has more to explore. TOI talked to Habib on the issue.

Q: What are the inference available from the data?

A: The data obtained from the two collared translocated tigers reiterates our understanding of each individual being different and having its own unique patterns of movement. These individuals are demonstrating behaviour that is in accordance with the sites they were captured from. This translocation experiment has led to the elucidation of a new corridor from NNTR to Kanha in Madhya Pradesh as per the movement path traced by NT1.

Q: The basic aim of the experiment was to augment the tiger population in NNTR but have both tigers moved out?

A: No. NT2 has established territory within the core of the reserve itself with very rare movement into the buffer. These buffer locations represent only chance movement events and are well within a kilometre of the boundary. Additionally, these are not unidirectional with the tiger returning to the core shortly after venturing out. Hence, it would be appropriate to conclude that only one translocated individual NT1 has moved out.

Q: Would releasing more tigers be justified?

A: Yes. It would be appropriate to carry forth the translocation program as proposed since one out of the two individuals has established territory within the reserve after being translocated.

Q: Is this maiden experiment working?

A: The experiment has been successful with one translocated female establishing her territory within Nagzira. Additionally, it has brought to light new information on the possible corridor connectivity between NNTR-Kanha. This is just the beginning of the experiment, the more we try to explore and more we learn.


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