PHOTO: Maharashtra Forest Department
Credit: Maharashtra Forest Department
Mumbai: In what comes as a great news, a tigress was successfully released into the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR), nestled in the Western Ghats, as part of a larger translocation programme from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) and Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), located in the central Indian landscape of Vidarbha region.
The STR spreads over Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary and Chandoli National Park and touches the Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary.
The tigress STR-05 (Tara), earlier identified as T7 (S2) during the management phase, on Thursday morning, left for the core forest area.
On Saturday, the gates were opened at 7 am to release her back into nature.
However, on Thursday, at 7 am, she finally emerged from the soft release enclosure and entered the core forest of Chandoli.
Although the gates had been kept open since December 13, the tigress was only roaming around recently. She had made a kill and was feeding on it for the past three days. Finally, on December 18, in the morning, she left the enclosure and went into the core forest.
This comes as a success story for the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD).
During this period, the tigress exhibited excellent natural behaviour, remained alert and responsive, and demonstrated strong hunting skills by successfully hunting prey inside the enclosure, confirming her readiness for independent survival in the wild.
Based on continuous behavioral observations and veterinary assessment, Tara was found to be physically fit and behaviourally suitable for release into open forest conditions.
“Tigress STR-05, now named Tara, has shown excellent adaptation during the soft release phase. She displayed all essential wild traits, including successful hunting behaviour inside the enclosure, indicating strong fitness and readiness for release. Her entry into the wild is a significant step towards strengthening the tiger population in the Sahyadri landscape,” said Tushar Chavan, Field Director, Sahyadri Tiger Reserve.
“The release of tigress STR-05 (Tara) has been carried out strictly as per established scientific protocols and careful behavioural evaluation. This successful release reflects Maharashtra Forest Department’s commitment to evidence-based wildlife management and long-term tiger conservation,” said M S Reddy, Chief Wildlife Warden, Maharashtra.
“Two adult tigresses STR-05 (Tara) and STR-04 (Chanda) have been released in the core forest of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, due to which the tiger population will not only increase in the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve but also sustainable Wildlife tourism and thus new employment will be created,” said Rohan Bhate, Honorary Wildlife Warden.
Post-release, tigress STR-05 (Tara) will continue to be closely monitored by the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve field teams to ensure smooth acclimatisation to the natural habitat and landscape conditions.