Tigers of Doom – Sanjeev Siva

Tigers of the Doom

Tigers and other wild animals have evolved physiological, psychological and behavioural traits that includes stresses in adaption to habitats/ecosystem.

Of the two big cats present in major numbers, leopards being arboreal (and terrestrial) and surviving on smaller and more available prey, are more adaptable while Tigers being terrestrial, bigger in size and subsisting on larger prey, need a habitat that’s undisturbed by human activity; though both leopards and tigers are sensitive, solitary, shy and elusive animals.

Tigers (and Leopards) are extremely sensitive (not limited to) to

Mating partners, maternal bonding,
Geographical location,
Ecological changes (altered or shrinking habitats),
Weather and climatic conditions,
Stressors such as human activities, intraguild competition,
Interactions or exposure to humans,
Captivity (as a part of any relocation process) as a function of time, and the

Because big cats are sensitive, problems arise when they are translocated/reintroduced without giving much thought on any or many of these factors. The acute physical impact on the health of the tiger is tangible, while chronic health issues and behavioural disturbances, and cascading effects of these disturbances are intangible and might even take years to manifest.

Why are tigers translocated?

Tiger relocation is undertaken to

Move surplus tigers from reserves to tiger-deficit or tigerless reserves
Re-populate/re-establish the populations at landscapes and reserves, or development of new tiger habitats (that are not naturally connected).
Incept an ecological and economic value to a forest and to check illegal human activity or conversions of forest lands (tiger reserves receive the highest protection of any forest in India)
Maintain viable populations in reserves, for genetic heterogeneity and for decentralized longevity of the tiger.
Re-wild abandoned/orphaned/problem animals that deem another chance at living in the wild.

Tigers are initially identified – tranquilized – transferred – enclosed – collared – released in the new wild. Additionally, tigers are also collared for the purpose of scientific study – tracked and monitored to understand the predator-prey dynamics and dispersal patterns.

Not every tiger is viable for translocation. Though the most unsuitable candidates might still fare better (because nature acts in the most perplexing ways), a properly studied tiger will ensure the longevity of the translocation project; selection of tigers (for translocation) is one of the most important criteria.

Orphaned or abandoned tiger cubs (hand-reared by forest department, in enclosures) and young and transient (dispersing) tigers are the ideal candidates.

But despite several viable tigers, most times, the ones that are easy to find are the ones that are picked – resident tigers or tigers that already have established territories. This begins to set a series of events into motion.

Resident tigers could rule a territory for anywhere between 3-10 years, and in the process protect the tigresses under their rule from wandering/nomadic tigers. Much or entirety of the litters are successfully raised to subadulthood and they disperse after attaining 2 years of age. A resident male could raise as many as 15-20 cubs during this period. Contrary to the popular belief that the father would kill his own sons and daughters, there are very few such instances in the wild, to substantiate these beliefs.

Young tigers choose their territories naturally based on availability of water, prey, inviolate forests and conspicuous absence of indomitable tigers.

Tigers expand their territories in a spiralling outward fashion, forming a mental map of the territory, as a function of time and landmarks; and they become creatures of habit, following a pattern of patrolling territories. They acclimatize to the habitat, choose their mates, observe prey movements, avoid or challenge competitors etc.

A resident tiger might abandon its territory when a newer tiger challenges, or when there is no mate. Removing a resident tiger forcibly from its territory will cause wandering and nomadic tigers to occupy these empty niches. The resident tigers (that are translocated) might show a marked behavioural change. Either of these actions might lead to an increased conflict, that hasn’t existed, prior. These unnatural (or unaccustomed) environments impose stresses on the animal’s physical and psychological health too.

Stories of Translocated/Reintroduced Tigers

Translocation of a wild animal is the shifting of or introducing the animal from one habitat to another. Reintroduction is to shift a wild animal to a suitable habitat from captivity. Tigers are translocated or reintroduced, sometimes with the word ‘relocated’ used interchangeably. The idea behind mentioning the comprehensive list (providing suitable background stories and cascading impact) is to understand the deleterious effects of improper selection of tigers and translocation sites, lax monitoring, and other.

The list starts with Sariska and Panna as more tigers have been translocated after these parks went tigerless by 2004 and 2009, respectively, followed by the other tigers.

Translocated tigers at Panna

T-1 - Translocated from Bandhavgarh, she is known as the mother of Panna and has successfully raised five litters between 2010 and 2018. She is the daughter of the original Chakradhara female at Bandhavgarh, from her penultimate litter, probably born in 2007.

T-2 - Translocated from Kanha, she has given birth to three litters.

T-3 - In November 2009, a young male tiger was translocated to Panna TR. Panna became tigerless, after the tigers were poached out. Earlier, two tigresses, one each from Bandhavgarh and Kanha (T-1 & T-2) were translocated, in a bid to repopulate the tigers at Panna. In December 2009, T-3 walked out of Panna, in the direction of Pench – a homing instinct – the ability of an animal to traverse to its original location even negotiating unfamiliar territories. T-3 covered 442 Kms in about 41 days, negotiating even the busiest of human habitations, before he was finally located, tranquilized and shifted back to Panna. Fortunately, T-3 became the dominant tiger at Panna, responsible for birth of more cubs than any other tiger, at Panna.

T-4 - Was released at Panna after hand-rearing for almost 6 years, since she was 15-days old, after her mother was killed by a male tiger at Kanha in May 2005, T-4 was translocated to Panna in March 2011. T-4 was taught to hunt by T-3, the dominant male at Panna. T-4 delivered her first litter in November 2011. She delivered her second litter which she abandoned and then a third litter in July 2013; she died of the collar infection in September 2014.

T-5 - The sibling of T-4 was released in Panna in November 2011. She was already facing competition from the resident tigers and so, it took a while for her to mate. She littered for the first time in April 2014 which she abandoned when the cubs were 3 months and the cubs died later. She gave birth to a second litter in May 2015. She died in June 2016 probably due to a territorial fight.

T-6 - A 3-year-old tigress from Pench TR was released in Panna in January 2014. She delivered her first litter in August 2014, but the cubs did not seem to survive. She delivered again in January 2015.

T-7 aka Bahubali - A huge 4-year old male tiger (later named Bahubali) that wandered into the premises of Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Nabibagh, on the outskirts of Bhopal, has been tranquilized and translocated to Panna TR on October 30, 2015. All the tigers of Panna till then traced their lineage to T-3 male.

Translocated tigers at Sariska

Starting 2008, many tigers have been translocated to Sariska, in a bid to repopulate Sariska after poachers killed all the original inhabitant tigers. Sariska is in the north-west extreme of the original Tiger range in India, but to where tigers cannot migrate on their own, given the current demographic status of humans.

ST-1 - On 28^th June 2008, T-10 at Ranthambore was the first tiger to be translocated to Sariska. He was translocated by an army helicopter, the first if its kind in India. He was poisoned in Nov 2010.

ST-2 - The daughter of Machli (T-16), Sharmili aka Babli (T-1) was relocated to Sariska on 4^th July 2008. She mated with ST-4 giving birth to ST-7 and ST-8. After the death of ST-4, ST-16 mated with her, but she did not deliver any cubs. Her collar has been non-functional since 2011.

ST-3 - Another daughter of Machli (T-16), Baghnani (T-18) was relocated to Sariska on 4^th July 2008. T-18 was a resident tiger in zone 2 and was mating with T-23 (Bhola) of Ranthambore. She was tranquilized and translocated in the middle of her mating. At Sariska, She has never littered to date though she mated with ST-1, ST-4, ST-6 and ST-15, which could be attributed to the timing of her tranquilization at Ranthambore. T-23 became alone and started to search the territory for T-18. He ultimately left zone-2 and moved towards the buffer areas, and he was never seen again. At Sariska, the collar of T-18 aka ST-3 has been replaced, as the original collar ceased to function.

ST-4 - In July 2010, T-12 aka Guda male, a 7-year-old dominant and resident tiger of Zone 1 (and parts of 2, 6) of Ranthambore was translocated to Sariska. He was named ST-4 at Sariska. Consequently, his mate T-13 was forced to leave the territory, to save her litter from T-24 aka Ustad who made inroads in the absence of T-12 male. T-24 went on to become the alleged and infamous man-eater of Ranthambore, 4 human kills attributed to him. It is to be noted that Ustad was stressed beyond measure, with three tranquilizations done in a span of few years; the first time for treating an injured paw, the second for constipation and the third for collaring, which ultimately took a traumatizing toll on him, in addition to the anthropogenic stress due to the lakhs of pilgrims who ply the fort road, year round. Fortunately, the erstwhile territories of T-12 and T-24 have been taken over by dominant and territorial males, T-57 and T-86 (both contributing to an increase in tiger population). T-12 braved the adverse situations (poaching, poisoning etc) in Sariska as ST-4, ruling the half the tourism area for close to a decade and contributing to the increase in numbers at Sariska, before he finally succumbed to injuries inflicted by his arch-enemy, ST-6. T-24 was eventually shifted to an enclosure and is now at the fag end of his life. ST-4 died in a territorial fight with ST-6 in December 2018.

ST-5 - On 28^th July 2010, T-44 from Ranthambore was translocated and christened ST-5 at Sariska. She mated with ST-4 and ST-11 but could not litter. She was later shot dead by poachers in 2018.

ST-6 - In mid-2010, a few kilometres away from Kachida, where he was born, T-7 ventured to the fringes of the park, near a village called Bhoori Pahari. As is the case with most tigers venturing out of the parks, even to this day, a huge gathering stressed the animal. While a rescue team comprising of the then ranger, Daulat Singh Shaktawat was attacked by the panicked tiger, that mauled his face, leaving him blinded in one eye. The tiger T-7 then moved out of the park, escaping the startled rescue teams and the villagers to Mathura and finally settling in Keoladev National Park in Bharatpur. The tiger was subsequently tranquilized and moved to Sariska Tiger Reserve in March 2011, in a bid to repopulate the tiger reserve that was emptied off its tigers through poaching. T-7 became the dominant tiger in Sariska where he was codenamed ST-6. In Sariska, the dominant tiger ST-1 (known as T-10 in Ranthambore) was supposedly poisoned in November, 2010 which led to the rise of ST-4 (T-12 or Guda male in Ranthambore) that was translocated to the park in July 2010. Guda male was one of the dominant tigers in Ranthambore before his translocation. He sired Noor (T-39) from old Sultanpur female (T-13); and the vacant territory of Guda male was taken over by Ustad (T-24). ST-6 and ST-4 both remained arch-nemeses for life, both controlling the entire territory of Sariska. ST-6 incapacitated ST-4 in December 2018; ST-4 succumbed to injuries soon. The famed story of the king of Sariska that started from ruins of Kachida (as T-7) almost came to ruins as he aged graciously, and with ST-13 and ST-15 claiming stake in the erstwhile territories of ST-4 and ST-6.

ST-9 - Raised by their father, Dollar aka Zaalim aka T-25 at Ranthambore, after an untimely death of their mother, Kachida female aka T-5, two tigresses Bina-1 and Bina-2 (named after the then MoEF, Rajasthan, Bina Kak) were translocated to Sariska on 23^rd January 2013. ST-9 probably escaped from the clutches of a snare when she got her tail cut. She mated with ST-6 and delivered ST-15 male (who is one of the dominant tigers now) from her first litter. Collar replaced more than once.

ST-10 - The other sister ST-10 delivered two cubs in her first litter viz., ST-11 and ST-12. She delivered a second litter of 3 cubs that died early. She delivered a third time, and she was captured with one cub on a trap camera. Collar replaced more than once.

ST-16 - T-75 (son of Sundari aka T-17) from Ranthambore was relocated in 2019, and christened ST-16. He died in 2 months, possibly cos of a paw injury/overdosage of tranquilizer.

Translocated tigers at Satpura

Jhurjhura’s litter - male - The skin and parts of a tiger translocated from Bandhavgarh TR in 2013, were confiscated in October 2017. The tiger was killed for sorcery/black magic – even oil was extracted from its fat as a remedy for joint aches and erectile dysfunction. This male is said to be the son of Jhurjhura (who died in an accident at Bandhavgarh, orphaning her very young cubs in May 2010) and Bokha from Bandhavgarh.

Jhurjhura’s litter - female - The female cub of Jhurjhura was also translocated to Satpura on 8^th October 2016 in Churna range. She delivered a litter in February 2015. The third cub, a male, died at Bandhavgarh.

Tigress from Kanha - A tigress translocated from Kanha TR in March 2015. The collar stopped sending signals from December 2017, and she was last seen in camera traps in early January 2018, when the officials decided to re-collar her. She was later found dead in the same month; probably succumbed to poisoning.

P213-23 tigress - A radio-collared tigress P213-23, born in Panna TR in 2013, wandered into Ranipura sanctuary in Chitrakoot district of UP, bordering Satna district in MP in 2015, strayed into villages causing conflict (lifting cattle). It was caught 27^th September 2016 and translocated to Satpura TR, 350 Kms away.

Kankati’s subadult - female - When Bandhavgarh opened to tourism in 2017, after monsoons, it became clear that Kankati jr., of Magadhi range (core critical tiger habitat of Bandhavgarh) was missing. She was later declared poached, and her three cubs were taken under the protection of forest department. An enclosure was made where the cubs were reared, till they reached subadulthood, when they were shifted to a bigger enclosure in Bahraha area of Bandhavgarh. On 28^th January 2020, the female subadult, aged three years, was translocated to Satpura TR.

Kankati’s subadult - male - Along with the female, the male subadult was also translocated to Satpura TR. The third subadult, another male is awaiting translocation (intended to be done in February 2020). The male subadult. On 7^th February 2020, allegedly, a woman was mauled to death by a tiger, and the villagers opine that one of these two subadults killed the woman who has gone out for defecation. The villagers vandalised the forest department’s eco-centre at Matkuli, Satpura.

Other Tigers

Rahman of Dudhwa - In January 2012, a four-year-old tiger from Kheri forests was stalking the Rahmankhera area, just 25 Kms away from the densely populated town of Lucknow. The tiger eluded all efforts by the forest department in capturing it for close to three months. He was tranquilized in April 2012, collared and sent to Dudhwa TR where he settled and ruled a big territory. His current whereabouts are unknown (and since long), despite being collared.

Chandu of Dudhwa - On 5^th March 2018, a woman was killed close to Chandupur village of Pilibhit TR. Atleast 5 deaths in the area over the past 2 months have been reported. Owing to the proximity of human habitations, Philibit TR has the highest tiger-human conflict, with as many as 21 people being killed by atleast 5 tigers in the previous year - 2017. On 8^th March 2018, the tiger, named Chandu, was translocated to Dudhwa TR to give another chance to the tiger that was seemingly not incapacitated or injured. His current whereabouts are unknown (and since long), despite being collared.

Radha and Kishen at Nauradehi - On 30^th March 2016, the mother and all but one cub of Baghin Nala were poisoned at Pench TR. The surviving cub (Radha aka N-1) was later shifted to an enclosure in Kanha TR where she was reared/rehabilitated for around 2 years before she was translocated to Nauradehi in April 2018. Another tiger Kishen aka N-2, a transient young male from Bandhavgarh too was translocated, as a mate for Radha. Kishen was aggressive and even managed to escape from the enclosure in less than 1 day after being moved to the enclosure. Fortunately, he was captured again, and the pair have even given birth to their first litter of three cubs, a few months ago, pointing to the success of this translocation, despite the initial hiccups.

Kismat of Brahmapuri - On 29^th July 2017, Brahmapuri tigress T27-C1 named as ‘Kismat’ after killing two people, was radio-collared and released in Bor Tiger Reserve. The resident tigers at Bor were not probably allowing Kismat to settle down and hence it started moving along the Bor-Melghat corridor. It was also reported that the monitoring teams used crackers to scare and push the tigress into Amravati forest division. She allegedly made two more human kills and was electrocuted (by accidentally getting in contact with an electrical fence) during a botched capture-operation, on 14^th October 2017.

Chaprala Tigress - On 12^th August 2017, a migratory Tigress from Armori-Wadsa area of Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra, that seemingly came from Brahmapuri forests and trying to settle in the Armori range, was captured for killing two people. The tigress was released on 29^th August 2017 at Chaprala WildLife Sanctuary. She was settling in the area and started to subsist on natural prey. On 3^rd November 2017, the tigress encountered a live-wire, a 11 KV – power supply line, possibly laid to poach the tigress, and died.

MV-2 at Satkosia - With a view to repopulate the dying Satkosia TR (which only had two old tigresses and no males) in Odisha, the govt. there has requested for translocation of 6 tigers from Madhya Pradesh. This was the first of its kind inter-state translocation project and hence was even more prestigious. In June 2018, two tigers, MV-2 from Kanha and Sundari from Bandhavgarh were translocated as part of the program. On 14^th November 2018, MV-2 was found dead (possibly entrapped in a snare) and subsequently, Sundari, on allegations of killing two people in the reserve, was shifted to an enclosure, where she, a free ranging tiger, born in the wild, continues to rot to this day. Even before Sundari was shifted, rumours spread like wildfire at Satkosia that a man-eater or a problem tiger was being shifted to Satkosia. This naturally had a negative impact on the locals, who detested the presence of the tiger there. This coupled with the alleged kills and the aggression of the locals in burning boats and trashing the department officials forced the department to move the tigress to the enclosure. The project was a total failure in that it also jeopardised the inter-state translocations of tigers, thanks to the forest department and government of Odisha who failed to sensitise and educate the locals and the tribals, and also contain the spread of rumours. As one journalist puts it, “M.P. lost one of its tigers, but Odisha gained none”. The plan as of today is to shift Sundari back to an enclosure in Kanha, from where it will be rewilded/released in a suitable habitat.

MT-2 of Mukundara Hills - In April 2018, MT-1 (aka Mirza aka T-91 at Ranthambore) was the first tiger translocated to MHTR, followed by MT-2 (aka T-106 at Ranthambore) in December 2018. A third tiger, MT-3 (T-98) migrated to MHTR on his own in February 2019, while a fourth tiger MT-4 (T-85 aka Lightning at Ranthambore) was also translocated in April 2019. MT-1 had no territory in Ranthambore after conflict with males and he became a wandering male. MT-2 was one of T-34 aka Noor’ cubs from her third litter. MT-2 was the first to separate from the mother, carve a territory for herself in Zone 1 of Ranthambore, even when the other two female cubs were still with the mother. Almost at the same time, the male cub of T-60 of Ranthambore, T-98, in search of his missing mate at Ranthambore, MT-2 (T-106), migrated all the way to Mukundara Hills TR; circumnavigating the very densely populated towns and villages between Ranthambore and Mukundara Hills; a distance of around 200 Kms. It is beyond human understanding as to how a tiger could go in search of his missing mate. He was christened MT-3. MT-2 later must have got pregnant with MT-3, and her cubs were seen in the beginning of the current year. MT-4 also had cubs (a trap-camera image proved the same), but the apathetic forest department was not aware of this fact and it seems that the cubs of MT-4 have perished. Disaster struck when MT-2 and MT-3 died within a span of 10 days (July – August 2020) at Mukundara Hills TR, and it is learnt, of late, that the radio collars on all the four tigers have been non-functional since quite some time.

A male tiger at Sanjay Dubri - On 10^th December 2018, a male tiger was translocated to Sanjay Dubri TR, from Kanha TR. The son of Chitakudri female that succumbed to injuries, was reared at Kanha TR, since he was a 5-month-old cub.

Kallavaha male -On 30^th July 2019, a male cub was shifted to Bahraha enclosure in Bandhavgarh. Seemingly, its mother and siblings were killed by a male. On 26^th June 2020, the tiger was released into the same range – Kallavaha from where it was picked.

The impact of translocation on tigers

A variety of issues like not being able to fit in the established social and dominance systems of the existing/resident tigers in the target sites or heightened anthropogenic activity, might deem unfit for the translocated tigers. So, the tigers might move away from these sites, naturally.

Many of the problems arise when resident tigers are translocated. They often could not acclimatize to the new environment and are stressed beyond measure. This is manifested in homing tendencies, extensive roaming behaviour (which might be mistaken for exploratory nature, or a search for mate), tigresses unable to conceive, abandoning cubs etc.

Even in transient tigers or young subadults who are yet to establish a territory, translocation might trigger a non-existing human-animal conflict (both at the source and target sites),

Further, the entire procedure is complex, labour-intensive, and expensive. A failure at the target site not only is one life (of a tiger) wasted but also the entire project jeopardised (as has happened in case of translocation of MV-2 and Sundari at Satkosia).

As seen from each of the instances of tiger translocation, the immediate challenges are

Poaching, Electrocution, Poisoning
Non-functioning collars
Over-dosage of tranquilizer
Improper or lax monitoring, in some cases over-monitoring
Improper assessment of target sites

Much of the success banks on the humans at target-sites and the other stakeholders, and the rehabilitation and subsequent acclimatisation of the tiger.

In the end, Tiger translocation is the only viable workaround to clearing migration corridors, and it might not be as easy as it sounds, but in addition to being a stop-gap arrangement only. Since tigers are prolific breeders, the benefits of removing a few tigers at source will diminish in no time, if proper measures are not taken to decongest the blocked migration corridors.

How can translocation be better modeled?

Unblocking of migration corridors is not an easy task considering the socio-political-demographic-economic challenges. Translocation, if executed properly as a long-term science project than a random experiment, can prove to be actually beneficial (especially to target-forests where tiger populations are falling).

Assessment of translocation/target sites (has current or proposed connectivity to an existing tiger reserve etc.)
Reliable identification of individual tigers (to be translocated)
Assessment of animal behaviour (pre- and post-translocation for anxiety, stress, deviation from ethogram, demand for prey-base vs livestock etc.,)
Assessment of animal physiology (biologically related individuals, measuring corticosteroid levels using invasive methods only, like sampling faeces etc.,)
Sensitising and gaining confidence of humans at the target-site – involvement of/awareness sessions by local NGOs/wildlifers/forest officers, etc., before and after the translocation.
Speedy disbursal of compensation and speedier resolution of issues. (the effects of not taking local people into confidence will run deep and eventually lead to failure of the project).
Improved tracking and monitoring, by relevant authorities, specifically at sites where tigers are traditionally prone to poaching and/or poisoning, electrocution or at sites where tigers are locally extinct.
Accountability and transparency on paper, of the concerned departments (because of the costs and efforts involved and the potential to derail the entire translocation program).

Tigers translocated