Before implementing the programme, there were 8 tigers in the reserve and after 2023 the number increased by 15  

 

Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) which had eight tigers at the time of tiger census in 2022, has now 23 tigers residing in the forest, claimed National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in a report recently. A latest study named ‘Reintroduction and Population Recovery of Tigers in India’ of NTCA claimed that the Central Government’s reintroduction of tigers initiative helped to increase the population in those tiger reserves where the number was less or had no tigers left. The initiative carried out in 12 tiger reserves in the country in which NNTR in Gondia and Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) in Western Ghats were also included.

 

The tiger reintroduction represents a comprehensive conservation intervention that integrates animal translocation with habitat restoration, prey recovery, and long-term landscape management. As per the report, NNTR represents tiger population augmentation rather than reintroduction after complete extinction. Located in eastern Maharashtra, NNTR forms an important part of the Central Indian tiger landscape and is connected with larger, tiger populations of the region.

 

Historically, NNTR supported tigers, but the population remained low compared to the ecological potential of the landscape. Keeping this low population in mind, NTCA selected the reserve to reintroduction initiative. Even the objective of conservation intervention has been to strengthen the existing population and improve its demographic stability. As per the report, before augmentation, NNTR had eight resident tigers. The translocation of three tigresses in the reserve from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) took place in 2023 and after that initiative the tiger population increased to 23, including cubs in NNTR. Such augmentation programmes are important because many tiger landscapes in India still contain suitable habitats but have populations below their ecological potential. Because the natural population was relatively low compared to its carrying capacity and to reduce inbreeding risks, the Forest Department launched a translocation project to introduce new tigresses into the park. Apart from NNTR, the programme also initiated in STR in Western Ghats where population of tigers also increased from 4 to 7 in last one year, claimed the report.

 

TATR is the source site from where the tigers were translocated to NNTR, STR in Maharashtra and Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha in last three years. Apart from these three tiger reserves, the programme has been carried out in Sariska Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan), Panna Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan), Satkosia Tiger Reserve (Odisha), Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), Rajaji Tiger Reserve (Uttarakhand), Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan), and Madhav National Park (Madhya Pradesh). All the tiger reserves witnessed increased population of tigers after implementation of the programme.