Explanation:

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) questioned the relocation of a Ranthambore tigress to the newly sanctioned Ramgarh Visdhari Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Bundi.

Calling the relocation legitimate, the state forest department has further sought NTCA’s guidance on managing the high density dispersal of big cats from Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan.

According to the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve field director, the relocation was done after permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden, and that NTCA was duly informed.

According to the field director, the tigress in question was stray (with no territory) and was moving in the fields near the boundary of the Reserve and therefore needed to be rescued the nearest reserve was Ramgarh Visdhari.

It is pertinent to note here that according to the official sources, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve has seen a growth of 45% in big cat population in the last eight years. Although it is a welcome news but it simultaneously causes concern over the lack of adequate space for the tigers to mark their territory.

From 59 tigers in 2014, the current population of big cats in the Reserve has reached 86.

On the negative side, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve’s 86 tigers live in an area of 1,334 square kms, making it the third most congested habitat of felines in India after Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand and Kaziranga National Park in Assam.