Dream re-opening for tourists at Panna
| Date :17-Oct-2019 |
Staff Reporter :
Two tigress, two cubs spotted in Panna Reserve on the very first day
There is good news for wildlife lovers as Panna Tiger Reserves re-opens after monsoon break on Wednesday. Most interesting part of re-opening was that tourists spotted two different tigresses with two cubs on the very first day. The two tigresses have given birth to the cubs during monsoon and both of them are looking healthy. The cubs are learning to kill prey and setting up areas in Panna jungle with the mother tigress. Due to prolonged monsoon, PTR was not reopened for the tourists on October 1. Reserve management postponed the reopening of reserve for October 16.
During the closure of park, PTR officials confirmed delivery of two news cubs in the reserve. For the first time, cubs were spotted through camera trap and looking about five to six months old. Field Director of Panna Tiger Reserve K S Bhadoria said that tigress T-142 and T-151 were spotted with one cub each in the same area. He further added, “it is quite possible that both tigress have delivered a few more cubs but they have not been sighted yet. Both tigresses have been spotted with one-one cubs.” Including the two new cubs, Panna Tiger Reserve has now 54 tigers, including 37 adult felines. This population of tigers is biggest in the history of Panna.
Apart from this, Satpura Tiger Reserve, Kanha have also been re-opened for the tourists. Earlier, all the reserves were supposed to reopen on October 1 but due to prolonged monsoon, it could not re-open on the given date. Now, roads have been repaired and all preparations were done by reserve management to welcome the tourists. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) was re-opened on October 1. Joining Clean India campaign, plastic products have been banned inside the reserve premises. BTR is enriched with flora and fauna with higher population of tigers.
Every year large number of tourist visits the reserve to enjoy the wild. The reserve has varieties of animals, birds and other species. This year tiger reserves and national parks are expecting good number of tourists. Most of the resorts at tiger reserves, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries have witnessed full booking even one month before re-opening this season owing to the rising population of tigers. Forest officers said that closing of parks provide some privacy to the wild animals like lion, tiger, elephant, birds like peacock etc during their mating season as monsoon period are considered the best for their breeding. At present, BTR has more than 40 tigers. All national parks and wildlife sanctuaries were closed for tourists every year from July onwards. This year higher number tourist has booked their tour package for Bandhavgarh. As this year Madhya Pradesh got back its tag of ‘Tiger State’, tourists are more excited to enjoy the wild beauty of jungles.