Chandrapur: Maharashtra’s tiger conservation programme has added a third big cat to the population being established in Painganga Wildlife Sanctuary, with a young tigress from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) shifted to the 325-sq-km sanctuary in Yavatmal district.The tigress, identified as T163-SAF2, was captured near Tellia lake in Moharli (core) range of TATR on Thursday and transported to Painganga as part of the state’s strategy to create viable tiger populations in forest areas outside its established tiger reserves. She is a sub-adult daughter of Collarwali, a well-known tigress of the Tadoba landscape.The latest relocation takes the number of tigers translocated to Painganga this year to three — two tigresses and one male tiger. The exercise is aimed at building a breeding population in the sanctuary, which has suitable forest habitat and has been identified as a potential tiger landscape under the state’s conservation programme.Two other big cats were moved to Painganga earlier this year. A nearly three-year-old tigress, was released earlier in January after being rehabilitated under the Pench Tiger Reserve programme and undergoing behavioural and veterinary assessments. A rescued male tiger from the Pench landscape was subsequently released there in the first week of July, providing a potential breeding partner for the tigress.T163-SAF2 is the second daughter of Collarwali to be relocated from Tadoba to another wildlife sanctuary this year. Her sibling, T163-SAF1, was released in the 205-sq-km Dhyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary in Buldhana district in July this year.Field director TATR, Prabhu Nath Shukla confirmed the capture of sab adult tiger from Mohali (core) range and it’s release in Pain ganga wildlife sanctuary on the same day.With three relocated tigers now forming the nucleus of the population, Painganga is emerging as an important landscape in forest department’s efforts to expand the species’ distribution and establish breeding populations in suitable forest habitats beyond designated tiger reserves.
