Forest officials relocate tigress in Madhya Pradesh

Mandla (Madhya Pradesh), Mar.11 (ANI): Forest officials have airlifted a tigress from the Kanha National Park to the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh in a bid to revive the tiger population in that region.

Officials often airlift tigresses from national parks with enough tiger population to those parks where the number has come down drastically.

Recently the authorities relocated tigresses from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and Kanha National Park to Panna Tiger Reserve to check the fall in numbers.

"There was scarcity of tigresses in Panna Tiger Reserve. In order to revive the tiger population in the reserve forest officials and government had planned transferring tigers from other reserves. Earlier on March 3, we have shifted one tigress from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and now we are taking another tigress from Kanha National Park," said H.S. Pabla, principal chief conservator of forests in Madhya Pradesh.

Kanha has nearly 75-100 tigers in the reserve while Panna, which covers an area of 3500 square kilometres has just two tigers.

Experts say India's dwindling tiger population will never recover and it will take a miracle to save those left from habitat destruction and poaching.

Failure by authorities to understand the needs of tigers and provide protection has led to numbers falling to 1,300 now from around 3,700 in 2001/02.

India has half the world's surviving tigers, but their populations have suffered, driven by a demand for tiger skins and bones in China for traditional medicines. (ANI)