MP: Tiger, Two Tigresses To Be Released In Madhav National Park To Revive Population Of Big Cats

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and state forest minister Vijay Shah on Friday will release a wild tiger captured from an institute in Bhopal and two tigresses into enclosures in a bid to revive the big cat population in Shivpuri district's Madhav National Park, an official said. Shivpuri borders Sheopur district, which houses the Kuno National Park, a new home for 20 cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa under the ambitious reintroduction project for the species.

"The tiger captured from the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology's (MANIT) in October will be brought from Satpura Tiger Reserve, while the two tigresses will be brought from Panna and Badhavgarh Tiger Reserves," MNP director Uttam Sharma told PTI on Thursday. The two-year-old tiger, after its capture from MANIT,  was released in Satpura in October. These animals, after being kept in separate enclosures for some time, will be released in the wild at MNP, which is spread over an area of 375 square kilometres.This is third time the MP forest department is going to re-introduce a tiger in a wildlife sanctuary, with successful projects of the kind having been undertaken in Panna Tiger Reserve and the Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Sagar, officials said.

MNP has a good prey base for big cats and the revival program was cleared by the Centre, they added. These big cats are going to be radio-collared and three teams have been formed to keep an eye on them when they will be released in the wild, the officials said. Additional Principal Conservator of Forests (wildlife) Subharanjan Sen said the number of tigers was fairly good in MNP in 1970. 

According to local residents and officials, no tiger has been seen in and around MNP since 2010. As per reports, tigers from Rajasthan roamed around MNP for some time in 2010-12. Wildlife experts said MNP had lost its tiger population primarily due to hunting.