Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh forest department has conducted an inquiry into wildlife activist’s claim that a tigress was assigned a new identification code to hide a missing tiger in the newly formed Veerangana Rani Durgavati (VRD) Tiger Reserve in Damoh district in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
The statement came amid claims from wildlife activist Ajay Dubey who said that one female tiger N-112 has been missing and N-111 has been assigned the identity of N-112.
The forest department said that one tiger had been missing since 2021 but refused that another female tiger was missing.
According to Dubey, “A tigress gave birth to cubs in 2020 and they were identified as N-111, N-112 and N-113. Since 2021, tiger N-113 has been missing. Similarly, a female tiger N-112 is also missing but to hide the matter forest department officials renamed female tiger N-111 as N-112.”
He submitted photographs of both female tigers taken a few months ago and compared the pictures taken recently.
The activist claimed that differences between female tigers can be spotted easily with stripes. “Forest department is showing the same female tiger as N-111 and N-112. I have filed a complaint with photographs and demanded to check the IDs of all the tigers in the Tiger Reserve. In Bundelkhand, poachers have been active for ages. Panna Tiger Reserve lost all its tigers in the early 2000’s due to poaching. This matter should be taken seriously,” he said.
Deputy divisional forest officer and in-charge of VRD Tiger Reserve AA Ansari said, “I have submitted the inquiry report to the Chief Conservator of Forests. One tiger has been missing since 2021 but no other female tigers are missing. Both N-112 and N-111 are alive and spotted in their territories.”
{{/usCountry}}Deputy divisional forest officer and in-charge of VRD Tiger Reserve AA Ansari said, “I have submitted the inquiry report to the Chief Conservator of Forests. One tiger has been missing since 2021 but no other female tigers are missing. Both N-112 and N-111 are alive and spotted in their territories.”
{{/usCountry}}The Veerangana Rani Durgavati (VRD) Tiger Reserve, which currently has 18 tigers, was formed to give a safe corridor to tigers of Panna Tiger Reserve as a part of its core area will be submerged due to India’s first river linking project — Ken Betwa River Linking Project.