Tadoba tigress moved to Dhyanganga to build new breeding population | Nagpur News

The two-year-old tigress, one of three cubs born to celebrated tigress ‘Collarwali’ of Moharli range, was captured and transported to her new home on Sunday

Chandrapur: Taking a significant step towards state’s tiger conservation, Maharashtra forest department relocated a two-year-old tigress, T163-SAF1, from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to Dhyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary in Buldhana district, ahead of International Tiger Day (July 29).The tigress, one of three cubs born to the celebrated tigress ‘Collarwali’ of Moharli range, was captured and transported to her new home on Sunday.The move is aimed at pairing her with a rewilded male tiger, PKT-7 CP-1, who was released into the 205-sq-km sanctuary in January this year. Rescued as an orphaned cub near Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in 2023 and rewilded at Pench Tiger Reserve for over two years, the male has since adapted well and drawn growing tourist interest. Forest officials hope the pairing will help establish a self-sustaining breeding population in Dhyanganga, known for its lakes, deciduous forests and rich prey base.Confirming the operation’s success, TATR field director Prabhunath Shukla said the translocation of the first tigress had been carried out successfully. He added that the department plans to relocate her sibling, second female cub from Collarwali’s litter, once T163-SAF1 has settled into her new habitat and the intensity of the monsoon subsides.The initiative is part of a broader translocation programme that Maharashtra has pursued since 2023, which has already seen tigers relocated to Navegaon-Nagzira, Sahyadri and even Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha to boost genetic diversity. One tigress moved to Navegaon-Nagzira in earlier years has since produced three cubs, which Shukla cited as evidence of the programme’s success.Forest officials said the newly translocated tigress will be closely monitored through radio telemetry and camera traps to track her movement and adaptation. Community outreach and rapid-response measures are also being strengthened to prevent human-tiger conflict in the region. If the pairing succeeds, officials say, it could mark a turning point in restoring tiger presence to a landscape that has long awaited its apex predator.