Panel to visit MHTR today to probe death of big cats

Jaipur: A three-member committee will visit the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) on Wednesday for the second time to probe the death of big cats this year.

The committee comprised of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), DIG, Rajendra G Garawad, PCCF (Rtd), Rajeev Srivastava and WWF, landscape coordinator, Abhishek Bhatnagar.

This year, two big cats (MT-2 and MT-3) and four cubs died at the reserve. Also, tiger MT-1, which is missing for the past four months, is feared dead. On Tuesday, the committee organised a meeting of stakeholders and wildlife lovers, where suggestion to improve the habitat condition were sought.

According to sources, as tigress MT-4 (last surviving tigress) is struggling in solitary confinement at Darrah and fate the big cat relocation programme, stated to be the country’s third, remains undecided, the wildlife lovers requested the committee to shift a male tiger soon.

“A request was made to pair the lonely tigress soon,” said a wildlife enthusiast. Since, the threat of contagious viral disease Canine distemper prevailing at Darrah, a suggestion was also made to vaccinate the cattle and dogs in the nearby villages and disinfect the area.

Sources said, the three-member committee will submit its report to the NTCA. After the death of the tigers, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who represents Kota constituency, took a serious note and called a meeting of Rajasthan’s senior forest officials and NTCA.

Birla asked NTCA to look into the aspects of the safety of tigers and also suggest ways to develop it as a tourist spot. At present, there is only one tigress MT-4, surviving in the reserve, where country’s third reintroduction programme was initiated. The tigers were relocated in the Darrah range after constructing 24km chain-link fencing and 31km of stone wall, spending approximately Rs 30 crore.