From being a reluctant,homesick mate to fathering 19 cubs,T3 today is the king of the Panna Tiger Reserve. Shifted from Pench in November 2009 to the reserve that lost all its big cats sometime in late 2008,the lone male tiger is lording over its vast expanse with the luxury of being able to choose from four tigresses. The four were also translocated to Panna from different reserves of Madhya Pradesh. The first batch of the cubs was seen in April 2010 and the second a few months later making it the first such successful experiment in the world. While of the 19 cubs born so far,five have died due to different reasons,the presence of 14 cubs and the five adults has given the Panna reserve many reasons to cheer after years of infamy and bad press. Panna field director R S Murthy attributes the success to low levels of disturbance,continuous monitoring and more inviolate areas. It didnt always seem so easy. Within weeks of reaching Panna,a homesick T3 had started moving in the direction of Pench,about 400 km away,showing no interest in the two females,T1 and T2,translocated to the reserve months before him. It took a month for the reluctant male to be traced and brought back to Panna. The next challenge staring at the forest authorities is the five cubs turning adult,carving out their own territories and threatening T3. One of the sub-adults recently travelled nearly 40 km from the park boundary while the rest venture out between 5 and 10 km,said the parks deputy director,V S Parihar. Though details are yet to be worked out,one more male is to be shifted to Panna.
