The two tiger cubs were on the verge of death after their mother had fallen prey to a territorial fight with another tiger in Kanha National Park, sometime in 2005–06. But, they were lucky enough not to become feed of another carnivore and to be rescued by some vigilant forest guards. Nobody knew then that the two female cubs were destined to make history.
Please click here to hear their full story…
They were hand-reared in a cage, initially fed milk, then given soft meat and as they grew up, they were also allowed to kill a gazelle or calf released in their enclosure to satiate their hunger. But they were as domesticated as a tiger in the zoo, being fed by humans and unaware of survival skills in the forest.
Thumb rule of the forest is survival of the fittest. The caged tigers can’t survive in the wild because they can’t hunt and can’t fight with other tigers. Till 2010, there was no history of a caged tiger ever surviving in the wild. But, these two cubs, did something remarkable so that their name will always remain etched in the history of tigers’ survival and development.
By 2010, they were almost five years old. Since Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) had become bereft of all tigers by 2009, these two tigresses were chosen to be released in the wild there. They were brought in from Kanha and released in the PTR after due diligence and medical tests.
The then Field Director of Panna Tiger Reserve Mr Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy, in the second episode of a candid conversation with Indian Masterminds, had spelled out minutest details of this pathbreaking experiment. The first part of this all encompassing interview was published in these columns only, on August 17, 2024.
It is still viewed on YouTube at..
