This document provides an overview of tiger conservation efforts in India, including: 1) It describes India's ambitious project to successfully reintroduce wild tigers back into Sariska Tiger Reserve, where poaching had eliminated the tiger population, through a recovery strategy developed with the Wildlife Institute of India. 2) The first litter of cubs born to one of the reintroduced tigers in Sariska in over 4 years since reintroduction is highlighted as a significant achievement, signifying the success of the conservation project. 3) Details are provided on the monitoring of the relocated tigers and the establishment of home ranges by the tigers in Sariska over the years since reintroduction began in 2008.

1. LANDMARKS
CHALLENGES
ACHIEVEMENTS
INITIATIVES
STRATEGIES
PERSPECTIVES
BI-MONTHLY OUTREACH JOURNAL OF NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Volume 3 Issue 6 Sept-Oct 2012

2. Core & critical tiger habitats of tiger reserves, notified
under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006
RESERVE STATE AREA OF CORE/CRITICAL
TIGER HABITAT (in sqkm)
Bandipur Karnataka 872.24
Corbett Uttarakhand 821.99
Kanha Madhya Pradesh 917.43
Manas Assam 840.04
Melghat Maharashtra 1500.49
Palamau Jharkhand 414.08
Ranthambhore Rajasthan 1113.364
Similipal Odisha 1194.75
Sunderbans West Bengal 1699.62
Periyar Kerala 881.00
Sariska Rajasthan 881.1124
Buxa West Bengal 390.5813
Indravati Chhattisgarh 1258.37
Nagarjunasagar Andhra Pradesh 3721.00
Namdapha Arunachal Pradesh 1807.82
Dudhwa Uttar Pradesh 1093.79
Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tamil Nadu 895.00
Valmiki Bihar 598.45
Pench Madhya Pradesh 411.33
Tadoba-Andhari Maharashtra 625.82
Bandhavgarh Madhya Pradesh 716.903
Panna Madhya Pradesh 576.13
Dampa Mizoram 500.00
Bhadra Karnataka 492.46
Pench Maharashtra 257.26
Pakke Arunachal Pradesh 683.45
Nameri Assam 200.00
Satpura Madhya Pradesh 1339.264
Anamalai Tamil Nadu 958.59
Udanti-Sitanadi Chhattisgarh 851.09
Satkosia Odisha 523.61
Kaziranga Assam 625.58
Achanakmar Chhattisgarh 626.195
Dandeli-Anshi Karnataka 814.884
Sanjay-Dubri Madhya Pradesh 812.571
Mudumalai Tamil Nadu 321.00
Nagarahole Karnataka 643.35
Parambikulam Kerala 390.89
Sahyadri Maharashtra 600.12
BRT Karnataka 359.10
Kawal Andhra Pradesh 893.23
TOTAL 35123.9547

3. WILD caught tigers have been success-
fully released in the wild, and this initia-
tive is the first of its kind in the world
where India has taken the lead. In both
Sariska as well as Panna, where this was
done, the results are encouraging. Based
on a recovery strategy planned in collaboration with the
Wildlife Institute of India and the state of Rajasthan,
wild tigers were reintroduced from Ranthambhore to
Sariska. One of the reintroduced tigresses has bred and
two cubs have been photo captured. The technical mon-
itoring in Sariska using radio telemetry is providing
valuable insights regarding the spatial occupancy pat-
terns of tigers and their internecine behaviour. This
issue carries an interesting write-up on Sariska tigers.
Namdapha in Arunachal is one of our old tiger
reserves constituted in 1982-83, encompassing a
large core area of 1807.82 sq km., with a buffer of
245 sq km. The NTCA is striving hard in collaboration
with the state to address several issues including
poaching, dependence of local community on the
habitat and relocation. An appraisal report from an
NTCA independent team is contained in this issue.
The MoEF through the NTCA/Project Tiger has for-
mulated a set of comprehensive guidelines for Project
Tiger and tourism in tiger reserves to foster conserva-
tion and tourism in a mutually compatible manner. The
salient features of these guidelines are highlighted.
An interesting side event on tiger conservation
was organized by the NTCA, Wildlife Institute of
India, Global Tiger Forum and WWF-India on
October 17, 2012, which was inaugurated by the
Hon’ble minister for environment and forests.
A meeting of the sub-group on tiger and leopard
conservation between India and Russia, under the
intergovernmental commission on Trade, Economic,
Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation took
place in Moscow on 17-18 September, 2012. A report
on this meeting is highlighted in this issue.
Dr Rajesh Gopal
Member-Secretary, NTCA
EDITOR
Dr Rajesh Gopal
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
S P Yadav
CONTENT
COORDINATOR
Inder MS Kathuria
FEEDBACK
Annexe No 5
Bikaner House
Shahjahan Road
New Delhi
stripes.ntca@gmail.com
Cover photo
S P Yadav
n o t e f r o m t h e e d i t o r
Volume 3
Issue 6
Sept-Oct
2012
Sariska
The most
ambitious
conservation
project ever
Pg 4
Achievements
Biodiversity
& tiger
conservation
P15
Indo-Russia
meet
Leopard
& tiger
conservation
Pg16
Guidelines
Strategy
for tourism
in tiger
reserves
Pg 10
Namdapha
Appraisal
of the Tiger
Reserve
Pg 16
BI-MONTHLY OUTREACH JOURNAL OF NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

4. 4 | Sept-Oct 2012 | STRIPES
S
ariska Tiger Reserve, the one
name which was questioned
by all, the one name which
was belittled by the media, the
one name which stirred so much
negativity due to its loss of the
most magnificent clan of the
Panthera tigris tigris in 2005 has
finally unfolded its bounty!!!
Sariska undoubtedly has
always had a significant position
in the Indian semi-arid ecosys-
tem with potential habitats and
very high densities of tiger prey
base. The year 2008 created his-
tory as India attempted its first
“reintroduction strategy of large
carnivore” by planning and
implementation of tiger reintro-
duction in Sariska from the
neighbouring semi-arid tract of
Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve.
Based on the scientific ‘Species
Recovery Plan’ and the ‘Tiger
Reintroduction Protocol’ pre-
pared by the Wildlife Institute of
India (WII), Dehra Dun, Rajasthan
Forest Department (RFD) and
National Conservation Authority
(NTCA), two adult tigers (ST1, a
Sariska:The
Reign of Tigers
K Sankar & Subhadeep Bhattacharjee, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun

5. STRIPES | Sept-Oct 2012 | 5
male, and ST2, a female) were
brought to Sariska in June 2008.
Both the Tigers were first chemi-
cally immobilized and then
radio-collared in Ranthambhore.
Finally they were airlifted in the
Indian Air force MI-17 helicopters
and introduced into the majestic
forest of Sariska. In Sariska they
were released inside a carnivore
proof one hectare enclosure,
which was enriched with a natu-
ral vegetation cover and ade-
quate water holes. This process
is known as “soft release” and it
helped to monitor their physio-
logical and behavioral response
in the new environment. No one
had any speculation regarding
the post-introduction behavior of
the tigers as this had never been
tried before. After three to four
days of critical observations
from a camouflaged watch tower,
the individuals were released
into the wild. Continuous moni-
toring was carried out with the
joint effort of the RFD personnel
and WII research team from the
very moment the tigers were
released into the wild.
After being released in the
wild, the tigers started exploring
the areas of Sariska. The male
strolled in the southern part
where as the female moved
towards the northern part of
Sariska. In the first two months
they covered a significantly large
area of around 350 sqkm. Then
came the twist!! These two tigers
met during the third month and
stayed together in a smaller area
of about 30 sqkm for nearly a
month. Since then they were
often spotted together and
remained in association for
different time intervals.
In February 2009 another
female (ST3) was brought from
Ranthambhore to Sariska, by fol-
lowing similar protocol. She too
after being released in the wild
went on to explore a vast area of
225 sqkm in Sariska. In April
2009 the tigress (ST3) was seen
associating with the male (ST1) in
a relocated village site, Bhagani,
in Sariska. Thereafter she got set-
tled in that area and formed her
home range of around 40 sqkm.
The male had a larger home
range covering the two females
(ST2 and ST3).
In 2010 July, two more tigers
(a male – ST4 and a female – ST5)
were reintroduced in Sariska
from Ranthambhore aiming to
complete the initial stock of the
population according to the
species recovery plan. ST4, soon
after his release in the wild
moved towards the south eastern
part of the Sariska and in several
occasions drifted out of the
reserve to find himself in the
vicinity of township of Rajgarh.
This might have been due to the
territorial dominance of the first
male ST1. While ST4 was giving
the Sariska administration and
the research team a tough time
with the task of tracking his
movements, the ST5 tigress fol-
lowed a similar exploratory route
as that of the ST2 tigress and
moved towards the northern
parts of Sariska, crossing two
state highways simultaneously.
But after roaming in the north-
ernmost areas of the reserve with
less wild prey abundance and
more human disturbance, she
came back to the best available
habitat and started establishing
her territory in the eastern part
of the reserve.
While the Sariska management
and the WII research team were
meticulously striving to track
down the male tiger ST4 in the
territorial forest areas of Rajgarh
range of Alwar division, the first
ever reintroduced male ST1 was
shockingly found dead due to
feeding on a poisoned buffalo kill
inside the Sariska Tiger Reserve
at Kalakhet area in November
2010. Subsequent to the death of
ST1, ST4 found its way back to
the reserve and started occupying
the same areas which had been
utilized by ST1 for almost two-
and-a-half years. ST4 was
observed to even develop new
associations with all the three
females (ST2, ST3 and ST5) within
a month and covered the entire
home ranges of all three females.
In February 2011, a male tiger
(T-07) dispersed from
Ranthambhore and moved almost
250 km to Mathura in Uttar
Pradesh and backtracked, finally
settled in a tiny bird sanctuary of
Bharatpur (Keoladeo National
Park). This tiger was translocated
to Sariska. This male tiger
(renamed as ST6 in Sariska) soon
after his release in the wild was
observed to get himself associat-
ed with ST3 (female) in the south
western part of the Tiger
Reserve. The other male tiger ST4
was also observed to reduce his
territory providing space to this
new male and kept his associa-
tion with the other two females
(ST2 and ST5) (Fig. 4). In occa-
sional events we observed the
females (ST2 and ST3) to engage
them in new associations with
both the males (ST6 and ST4
respectively).
But dark clouds seemed to con-
tinuously hover above Sariska
and every soul associated with
Sariska and this project silently
prayed for a silver lining!! Now it
APPRAISAL
Jubilation engulfed
Sariska when the first
reintroduced female
ST2 was seen with
symptoms of
lactation in June
2012. On August 7,
we captured the
photograph of this
tigress with a cub
through a camera
trap deployed in her
territory, near Slopka

6. 6 | Sept-Oct 2012 | STRIPES
was almost four years and no
birth of offspring was observed
in Sariska, whereas a similar rein-
troduction project carried out in
Panna Tiger Reserve, Madhya
Pradesh, which was initiated
after Sariska, became successful
with the birth of tiger cubs with-
in a year’s time.
Experts in the field of wildlife
management and research
engaged themselves in scrutiniz-
ing the project to find out the
exact reason behind the
unfavourable conditions for the
arrival of tiger cubs in Sariska.
Issues of human disturbances
such as heavy traffic in state
highways within the reserve,
the presence of villages, human
and domestic livestock activities
in the core areas of the reserve
were speculated as the major rea-
sons, where as the presence of
radio collars on the tigers were
also raised as an issue by
some experts.
Jubilation engulfed Sariska
when the first reintroduced
female ST2 was photographed
with symptoms of lactation in
June 2012. Mother Nature
seemed to rejoice as on August 7,
2012, in Sariska, when we cap-
tured the photograph of this
tigress with a cub through a cam-
era trap deployed in her territo-
ry, near Slopka. The birth of this
cub in the lap of Sariska signified
the grand success of this first-
ever tiger reintroduction project
undertaken by the finest wildlife
experts of our country and there-
by engraving the name of India
on the milestone marking a new
era of global wildlife manage-
ment and research.
Let’s hope to see these magnifi-
cent beasts establish their pres-
ence deep in the heart of Sariska.
The next time you plan a trip to
Sariska, we sincerely hope that
you will sight the “striped fur”
proudly strolling through this for-
est accompanied by their cubs.
(Above & below) Camera trap photographs of the Sariska tiger cubs