Missing Panna tiger located

BHOPAL - A radio collared tiger that had gone missing from the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh about 10 days ago has been traced outside the national park, wildlife officials said Tuesday.

The tiger was brought to the Panna National Park in November this year, as part of a project to reintroduce tigers in the park. “The tiger was brought to mate with two felines translocated to revive the big cat population in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna Tiger Reserve but he moved out of the reserve,” Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) R.S. Negi said.

Claiming that the tiger moving away from the reserve was not a serious matter, Negi said: “The tiger couldn’t be confined in the reserve given the fact that it was yet to form its territory and the place was new for the animal.”

Negi however said: “Though efforts to locate the big cat were giving the forest department staff a tough time, what was more worrying for the time being was that we were not getting frequent signals from the radio collar fitted on the tiger. It was something that made our task to relocate the tiger difficult.”

“The tiger, brought from Pench National Park, had been on the move ever since it was released in the park. And the area where the tiger has now been located Monday is extremely undulating because of which signals from the radio collar were received with great difficulty,” Deputy Director of Panna National Park V.S. Parihar said.