Indore With rising number of tigers in Ranthambore sanctuary in Rajasthan and increasing territorial fights among them there is a fear among some experts that some of the tigers might reach Kuno National Park before the reintroduction of cheetah there and start building their territories. This could pose a threat to the reintroduction programme of cheetah in Kuno. Forest officials in MP debunk this fear. “Tigers have presence all over the state and if some of them travel from Rajasthan where their numbers are growing rapidly they can easily find other places along the corridor even before reaching Kuno” an official said. He added that tigers will find their place easily in other sanctuaries dotting the state. For the past three decades Rajasthan has been trying to develop a corridor for the movement of tigers around Ranthambore and Sariska. However whenever tigers fail to find their place in Ranthambore they have always chosen to move to MP instead. With Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary being developed into a rich wildlife zone and good population of herbivores for cheetah it is likely to attract tigers from Rajasthan too. Rajasthan government recently announced an expert panel to suggest a long term strategy for the conservation of tigers and develop new tiger reserves for the safer shelter of tigers; it became one more state that has more than 100 tigers. As per The National Tiger Conservation Authority in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India has published a document titled Connecting Tiger Populations for Long-term Conservation which has mapped out 32 major corridors across the country Ranthambhore-Kuno-Madhav tiger corridor connecting MP and Rajasthan has always been a natural movement corridor for tigers. On July 5 the Union ministry of environment forest and climate change approved Indias 52nd tiger sanctuary covering 1052.12 sq. km. As per the approval Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve (RVTR) in Bundi district will be Rajasthans fourth tiger reserve and can house 35 tigers. However it seems that tiger population rose over its territory limits much before the sanctuary can be prepared. Reporting deaths of young cubs in Ranthambore could mean a possible chance for some tigers to seek newer territories that remain open and welcoming especially in Kuno. History of tigers moving from Rajasthan to MP Male tiger T-38 had crossed the Chambal ravines and went to Kuno-Palpur in Madhya Pradesh a decade ago. T-38 which was born to tigress T-13 is approximately 12 years old. At present T-13 is the oldest surviving tigress in Ranthambore. In the past many tigers have moved to Kuno-Palpur wildlife sanctuary in Sheopur district which is about 80km from Ranthambore. Movement of T-71 which later disappeared was recorded in 2012. Similarly T-56 lived in the sanctuary before moving further to Datiya in MP. T-38 recently returned to Ranthambore National Park (RNP). The migration has surprised forest officials and experts as this is the first resident tiger of Ranthambore which returned after spending years in a wildlife sanctuary.

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