Sariska to get two Ranthambore tiger cubs

Jaipur: The Sariska tiger reserve, which has two tigers and three tigresses, will get two tiger cubs to add to the big cat numbers. The cubs will be shifted from Ranthambore National Park, officials said on Thursday.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has given the go-ahead for the move, an official told IANS on Thursday.

The two cubs belong to tigress T-5 who died after undergoing an emergency surgery at the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur after being spotted with a wound in February this year. This will be the first relocation of tiger cubs in Rajasthan.

"We have received written approval from the NTCA recently," a senior forest department official said.

There are about 12 tiger cubs in Ranthambore National Park.

"We will wait for the desired weather conditions as tiger relocation should not be done in the rainy season," said the officer.

He added that the move is part of the strategy to relocate tigers to Sariska, in Alwar, due to the growing numbers of the big cats in Ranthambore National Park.

Sariska tiger reserve, originally a hunting preserve of the erstwhile princely state of Alwar, was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955.

In 1978, it was declared a tiger reserve.

During 2004-05, the forest department and the state government faced all-round criticism over the disappearance of tigers from Sariska.

A report produced in March 2005 by the Wildlife Institute of India confirmed that there were no tigers left in the Sariska reserve, due mainly to rampant poaching.

The total area of Sariska is 866 sq km. Some of the wildlife found in the reserve include leopards, jungle cats, hyenas, jackals, chital, sambars, langurs, wild boar, four-horned deer and many species of birds.

The Ranthambore National Park is spread over an area of around 400 sq km. If the adjoining Sawai Man Singh sanctuary, over 175 km from Jaipur, is taken into consideration, the total area is around 500 sq km.

The park was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1957, and gained the protection of the central government's Project Tiger scheme in 1974. It was designated a national park in 1981.

According to forest officials, the park houses 31 adult tigers. Other wild animals found there include leopards, wild pigs, deer species and monkeys.