Tiger, tigress released into enclosures in Madhya Pradesh's Madhav National Park to revive big cat population

“While the tiger was captured in October last year after it strayed into the sprawling premises of the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal, the tigress that was released into MNP was brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve,” officials said.

“A tiger and tigress were on March 10 released into enclosures in Madhav National Park (MNP) in Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in a bid to revive the big cat population in the facility,” officials said.

“While the tiger was captured in October last year after it strayed into the sprawling premises of the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in Bhopal, the tigress that was released into MNP was brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve,” they said.

The tiger, after its capture from MANIT, was released in Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) in October, and has been brought to MNP from STR. “A plan to release another tigress did not work out as it could not be captured at Panna Tiger Reserve,” these officials added.

The translocation of the two big cats took place to mark the birth anniversary of former Union Minister Madhavrao Scindia, the father of Jyotiraditya Scindia. MNP, incidentally, is named after their ancestor Madho Rao Scindia.

Mr. Chouhan and Mr. Scindia pulled a lever each to release the two big cats from their cages into the enclosures, the officials said, adding five tigers in all, comprising two males and three females, will be translocated to MNP to revive the big cat population. The tiger and tigress have been released, MNP director Uttam Sharma told PTI.

These animals, after being kept in separate enclosures for some time, will be released in the wild at MNP, which is spread over an area of 375 square km, officials said.