India considering translocating few tigers to Cambodia

Following the massive success of 'Project Tiger' in India which has seen an exponential rise in the numbers of big cats, the Centre is mulling translocating a few of these majestic animals to Cambodia where ithas become extinct.

Cambodia last reported the sighting of a tiger in 2007 when it was caught on a jungle camera trap. After India successfully translocated a batch of African cheetahs last September, amemorandum of understanding was also signed with Cambodia in November to assist with the reintroduction of tigers in the Southeast Asian nation.

“The translocation of our tigers to Cambodia is under consideration. This has never been done in India before, although we have been translocating tigers within the country as and when it has been required," saidS P Yadav,member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority, referring to the translocation of tigers from Corbett (Uttarakhand) to Rajaji National Park.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

“We’ve sent a delegation there [Cambodia], they’ve sent a delegation here. We are examining the situation in Cambodia to see if tiger translocation can be done."

The officer added that in order to make the translocation possible, the authorities are studying if the factors that led to the extinction of tigers in the first place were resolved or not.

Next month will mark the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger which began in 1973 at the Corbett national park. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend a conference in Mysore and laud the efforts of wildlife conservation activists and officials involved whilst releasing tiger census data for 2022.

WATCH |Gravitas: How India is saving the tigers

Considering the six per cent annual growth observed in the population of tigers in the last few years, some experts say that it cannot be ruled out that the numbers may have swelled past 3,500, according to 2022 Tiger census findings.

ALSO READ | This Indian state is opening up another sanctuary for Asiatic lions as numbers grow exponentially

After India reached an alarming level of only 1,411 big cats in 2006, following the vanishing of tigers in the Sariska reserve in the northernIndian state of Rajasthan, successive governments stepped up the protection programmes,

Since then, a significant improvement has been observedand currently, India harbours 70 per cent of the global population of tigers.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: