Panna’s challenge: From zero tigers to too many now

A tiger spotted in Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh on November 22 is believed to have been from the PTR but forest authorities are waiting for confirmation before making any official claim unlike their UP counterparts, who insist it could have only been from PTR.

Spread over 576 sq kms in Panna and Chhatarpur districts, the current population of big cats in PTR has reached 55 with the arrival of the latest litter. Before it, the reintroduced tigers and their progeny have littered 35 times. In all seven big cats, including two males, were reintroduced from other reserves.

Forest officials had taken a long time to admit that Panna had lost all its tigers before making a public admission in early 2009. In March 2009, two tigresses were relocated from Bandhavgarh and Kanha but there was no male.

A decision to reintroduce big cats from other reserves was then taken and a formal reintroduction programme was formulated with technical inputs from the Wildlife Institute of India in August 2009. T3, a male tiger shifted from Pench on December 6, had ventured out of the PTR towards the south and was tranquilised and brought back on December 25.

Then park director R S Murthy recalled that successful monitoring, increased security and timely managerial interventions resulted in the first ever litter of four cubs from T1 on April 16, 2010.

“It’s a success story of tigers and people. It won’t be proper to call it problem of plenty because tigers are venturing into landscape, they are not going into villages. The same landscape had many poachers but they have given up illegal activity. People who were against tigers and the park now want to save the reserve,” said Murthy, now additional PCCF and Member-Secretary of MP Biodiversity Board.

If a senior park official, who has been there since before the reintroduction programme was launched, is to be believed, many more tigers have dispersed from PTR over the last few years.There have been 10 mortalities so far but all due to natural causes.

Confirming the arrival of the latest cubs, Field Director K S Bhadoriya admitted that tigers from the park are going outside protected areas and it is a challenge. Panna-based activist Rajesh Dixit said the reintroduction programme has overall been a success not only because of the increased tiger count but also the tourist footfall.

The successful reintroduction in PTR prompted forest authorities to try it in other reserves.