Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

Two Tigers Reintroduced In Madhav National Park In An Effort To Repopulate The One Of The Oldest Reserves In MP

March 11, 2023
tiger deaths
Picture for representational purpose

In an effort to repopulate the Madhav National Park, Madhya Pradesh, two relocated tigers were released. A four-year-old male from the Satpura Tiger Reserve and three and half-year-old female from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve were released in the specially created soft enclosures for the animals to get used to their new surroundings.

This information was provided by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in a series of tweets.

Though Madhav National Park, one of the oldest National Park of Madhya Pradesh that was notified in 1956, had sizeable tiger population in the past, the last recorded sighting was in 2012. Spread over an area of 354.61 sq km, the location of the park assumes conservation significance as it has  the potential to connect Panna Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh with Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.

As part of the proposal to re-establish tiger population in Madhav National Park, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department had prepared a plan for translocating five tigers— 2 males and 3 females—from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and Panna Tiger Reserves and from the surroundings of Bhopal.

For housing the tiger, three enclosures of 1.3 hectare each have been constructed. Each of these enclosure are interconnected through gates and provision for water, shade and natural tree cover has been made. The newly introduced tigers will be monitored round the clock by the field staff. A full time veterinary doctor equipped with rescue vehicle, cages, immobilizing gun, drugs has been deployed at the national park for tiger monitoring.