First Inter-state translocation project: Odisha gets second big cat from Madhya Pradesh

MB2, a sub-adult tiger at Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, was tranquilised before being taken to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha in the first such inter-state relocation. (Express Photo)

As part of the country’s first inter-state translocation of tigers project, a female cub was shifted from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Madhya Pradesh to Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha on Wednesday.

The 27-month-old tigress will join MB2, a sub-adult male that was shifted from Kanha Tiger Reserve in MP to STR last week.

In all six tigers — three pairs — will be shifted from MP to Satkosia under an ambitious project conceived by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun.

The tiger was immobilised, collared and blindfolded before being shifted to the cage. (Express Photo)

The cub, born to tigress Spotty, began its journey from BTR at 5.40 pm. The big cat was immobilised, collared and blindfolded before being shifted to the cage. BTR Field Director Mrudul Pathak said the team carrying the cub was likely to reach STR late on Thursday, covering nearly 800 km.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Shahbaz Ahmad told The Indian Express that MB2 was first kept in an enclosure at Satkosia and has now been released in the wild.

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MB2 being shifted from Kanha to Satkosia. The project involves relocating six tigers from MP to Odisha. (Photo: MP Forest Department)

He said the third tiger from MP would be sent after monitoring the behaviour of the translocated pair in the wild there.

“History has been created in tiger conservation and revival efforts in country,’’ Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had tweeted after the successful scientific translocation of the male tiger from Kanha last week.