Mysuru: South India’s first tiger rewilding centres are likely to be established at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts and the Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Shivamogga to rehabilitate orphaned tiger cubs and prepare them for release into the wild.A Karnataka forest department team visited the tiger rewilding centre at Kanha in Madhya Pradesh from July 30 to Aug 2 to study its operations. The team included additional principal chief conservator of forests Bishwajit Mishra, Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director Nandish L, Bhadra Tiger Reserve Director Yashpal Kshirsagar and wildlife veterinarian Dr Wasim Mirza.According to forest department sources, five two-month-old tiger cubs recently rescued from Bandipur are likely to be shifted to the proposed centres once they are established. The cubs’ mother, which was injured, is currently undergoing treatment at Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru.The centres will train orphaned cubs in survival and hunting skills before their release. “In the wild, a tigress teaches her cubs how to hunt. If the mother dies or is seriously injured, the cubs miss this crucial learning phase. Many such cubs end up in zoos because they cannot survive independently. Rewilding centres are designed to bridge this gap,” a senior forest official said.The training will begin with small prey such as fowl and gradually progress to larger animals as the cubs gain confidence and hunting skills. Their progress will be monitored through remote surveillance, and temporary enclosures will be used for the training programme.“The objective is to release the cubs back into the wild once they develop natural hunting instincts and can survive on their own,” said Nandish.
