5th tiger tranquilised, to be relocated from Corbett to Rajaji Reserve in 2 days

The 5-year-old male tiger, who has been brought to Dhela animal rescue centre for veterinarians to examine its health, will be relocated within the next two days

Published on: Apr 30, 2025, 17:50:52 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Haldwani/Dehradun: Forest officials from Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) on Tuesday have tranquilised a tiger — a male from the Bijrani range — and plan to relocate it to Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) within the next two days, after successfully translocating four tigers to boost its tiger population.

Forest officials from Corbett Tiger Reserve tranquilises the fifth tiger—a male from the Bijrani range

The male tiger, tranquilised by a team of forest officials on Tuesday evening, has been brought to Dhela animal rescue centre, where veterinarians are examining its health, CTR director Saket Badola said on Wednesday.

“It will be transported to Rajaji Tiger Reserve in a day or two. Already, four tigers have been translocated. This is the last tiger to be translocated,” Badola added.

CTR warden Amit Gwasakoti said the five-year-old tiger’s health was examined under the supervision of the park’s senior veterinarian Dushyant Sharma and RTR’s veterinarian Rakesh Nautiyal.

“In the joint investigation, the tiger was found healthy. Along with this, samples of the tiger are being taken for further examination. The big cat has been radio collared for its monitoring in the forest after release,” Gwasakoti said.

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Uttarakhand has the third-highest tiger population in the country, with 560 tigers. Corbett Tiger Reserve reportedly has the highest number of tigers among the country’s 53 tiger reserves, with around 260 tigers, according to the latest tiger census. The report states that there are 260 tigers within CTR and 229 outside the reserve. In contrast, Rajaji Tiger Reserve has only 51 tigers.

Officials said that five tigers were planned to be translocated from Corbett Tiger Reserve to Rajaji Tiger Reserve under the Uttarakhand Tiger Translocation Project, which was approved by the Centre in 2016. Following the approval, a team from the national tiger conservation authority (NTCA) visited both CTR and RTR and gave its final nod to the project.

Also Read: The truth about tigers in conflict

The first tiger was translocated in December 2020 followed by a tigress in January 2021 . The third tigress was shifted to RTR in May, 2023 and the fourth tigress in March last year.

Rajaji Tiger Reserve spans three districts—Haridwar, Dehradun, and Pauri Garhwal. It was officially declared a tiger reserve in April 2015 and covers an area of approximately 1,150 sq km. In last year’s tiger census, 51 tigers were reported in the eastern part of RTR, with a tiger density estimated at 8.15 tigers per 100 sq km. In the western part of the reserve, three reintroduced tigers were photo-captured during the census.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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