Ahmedabad: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” With those words, Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ gifted the world one of the most famous opening lines in literature, which also rings true for Gujarat’s bachelor tiger — ranging in and around Gujarat’s Ratanmahal landscape. But love will be in the air, literally, for the tiger.Officials said that the plan being considered involves airlifting a female tiger and releasing it in the wild near the male tiger’s current range. A female companion is expected to be translocated by May or June for the Gujarat tiger, as discussions progress smoothly between the Gujarat forest department and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). A senior forest department official said that Gujarat’s principal chief conservator of forests, Jaipal Sinh, recently met NTCA officials in Delhi, and received some propitious news. Sinh was told that Gujarat would be included in the ongoing national tiger census, the necessary step before translocation is considered. Gujarat officials said that after the census is completed, May and June will be the months most conducive to translocation. Senior Gujarat officials said that the preferred option is to source a female tiger from the wild, particularly an animal that is isolated, dispersed from its original area, or is moving in search of a mating partner. Officials said that if such a tigress is not identified, an alternative could be a female captured from the wild, subject to screening and suitability checks. They added that if a captured wild tiger is selected, the forest department would ensure that the animal has not been involved in any attacks on humans or livestock. The selected female would be fitted with a radio collar to enable continuous monitoring of her movements and to help field teams respond quickly if it approaches human habitations or conflict-prone zones. The male tiger’s presence in Gujarat has been under close watch since late Oct of 2025, when the state’s forest department informed the NTCA about the animal’s adaptation to the Gujarat landscape. Gujarat officials have confirmed at least two kills by the tiger and said that measures are being implemented to support its long-term survival.
