Inter-State Tiger Relocation: Big Cat Shifted From MP's Bandhavgarh To Rajasthan's Mukundra
Madhya Pradesh chief wildlife warden Shubharanjan Sen said the 3.5-year-old tigress was transported approximately 700 kilometres by road as permission for aerial shifting was denied.
Published : February 28, 2026 at 3:27 PM IST
Kota: In the second phase of the Inter-state Tiger Relocation project, a 3.5-year-old tigress was brought from Madhya Pradesh's Bandhavgarh National Park to Kota's Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan on Saturday. The big cat was tranquilised before being shifted to Mukundra by road, as the permission for transporting by air was denied, officials said.
Sugnaram Jat, field director of Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve and Kota chief conservator of forests (CCF), said the tigress was darted in Bandhavgarh at 12:30 pm on Friday. "Following the protocols, the team proceeded to Mukundra with the tigress and arrived at 8:30 am on Saturday. She was subsequently released into the enclosure and is being closely monitored. If everything is found to be fine, she will be released into the open," he added.
Madhya Pradesh chief wildlife warden Shubharanjan Sen said the management of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, under the supervision of officials from Rajasthan's Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve and the Wildlife Department, including veterinarians, transported the tigress to Kota, approximately 700 kilometres by road.
"Previously, tigress RF 327 had also been tranquillised and radio-collared. But as she was in a tourist zone, she was left there. Now, another tigress roaming in the Jagua buffer zone was tracked, tranquilised and fitted with a radio collar. She was transported to Mukundra following her full recuperation. Born in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, it was the fourth cub of Mohini," Sen added.
Nine Cheetahs From Botswana Reach Kuno National Park
A consignment of nine cheetahs airlifted from Africa's Botswana reached Kuno National Park in Sheopur on Saturday, boosting India's big cat count under the reintroduction programme to 48. The batch of six females and three males was flown to Gwalior by Indian Air Force (AIF) aircraft in special cages. The arrival marks another chapter in the history of the Cheetah Project.
Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav released the cheetahs into the enclosure for quarantine. District public relations officer Avantika Shrivastava said the animals were flown from Botswana to Gwalior on an IAF aircraft and were later transported to Kuno in IAF helicopters.
The IAF has been assisting the cheetah revival programme and had earlier transported the animals from Namibia in September 2022 and from South Africa in February 2023, said Project Cheetah Director Uttam Sharma.
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