JAIPUR: Tired of the wait and watch game, the state forest department has decided to send scat samples to laboratories based in Hyderabad for investigating into the reasons why the tigresses at the Sariska tiger reserve are not bearing cubs.
It has been three years since the tigresses were relocated to the Sariska reserve from Ranthambore and till now no cubs have been born.
"We have collected scat (feces, a waste product produced in the digestive tract) samples of the tigress and we will be sending them to a laboratory based in Hyderabad to check if the big cats at Sariska are suffering from any hormonal imbalances. The samples will be send in three batches at intervals of 10 days," U M Sahai, chief wildlife warden, Rajasthan, said.
Currently, there are three tigresses and two male tigers at the Sariska national park but despite having mated several times, the tigresses have not been able to produce any offspring. One of the male tigers ST-1, the first to be relocated to Sariska, died last year after it was poisoned by villagers.
Sariska's irony lies in the fact that the Panna tiger reserve that followed the example of Sariska in relocating tigers, has already seen cubs being born. Sariska continues to wait.
"These scat samples will be of male and female tigers. The purpose is to see if any of them are suffering from any hormonal imbalance," a source said.
The issue gathered steam in a workshop organised on the Challenges Ahead for rebuilding Sariska by the Sariska Tiger Foundation. Most of the speakers harped on the non-birth of cubs at the reserve.
Principal secretary forest and environment VS Singh felt that the portion of the reserve that was open to tourism was a very small fraction of the park. "What happens is that there are too many tourists that come into the arena resulting in stress for the tigers," he said.
Others felt that the tigers being sibling to each other has deterred them from producing any offspring despite having mated with each other. And yet others were of the opinion that the big cats were not mature enough to produce any off spring and felt that new ones will be born within a couple of years.
Even R N Mehrotra, head of the forest force, Rajasthan was hopeful. "The tigers have been mating. Even ST-1 would have fathered some cubs had he been alive. But now, we have ST-4 and with time I am sure Sariska would see cubs," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Sariska-to-test-samples-of-tiger-scat/articleshow/8654698.cms
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