Feeling lonely? A tigress in Ranthambore. File picture

Jaipur, Nov. 1: A tigress is set to fly to Sariska from Ranthambore on Monday.

A tiger and a tigress had earlier been moved to the 881sqkm Sariska national park in Alwar from Ranthambore, 200km away, as part of what experts call the world’s first “scientifically planned” relocation of the species.

The transfer will be monitored by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, World Wildlife Fund and the Rajasthan wildlife department.

“We have been tracking three tigresses for the past few days. On November 3, if all goes well, one of them will be trapped, darted, tranquillised, fitted with a satellite radio collar and then flown in an Indian Air Force MI 17 helicopter from Ranthambore to Sariska,” Rajasthan’s chief wildlife warden R.N. Mehrotra said.

After three barren years, Sariska heard the first roar of a tiger when a big cat flew in from Ranthambore in the last week of June this year. A tigress touched down the following month.

Mehrotra said both animals formed their own territories after they were let out of their enclosures. They were also spotted together about 10 days ago, giving a whiff of a budding romance.

“We hope the animals will mate in the course of time although they have taken over two months to interact with each other,” Mehrotra said. “Every operation takes time.”

Rajpal Singh, a member of the state-empowered committee on wildlife and forests, said Sariska’s latest resident would be between the age of two-and-a-half and four years.

In 2004-05, unchecked poaching had reduced Sariska’s tiger count to zero.

The Ranthambore sanctuary, on the other hand, has a problem of plenty. There have been reports of territorial fights between its 46 tigers, including 14 cubs. Some of the older animals are said to have been chased out of the forest by the young ones.

The Rs 1.5-crore relocation scheme aims to shift two more tigers to Sariska, taking its population to five — two males and three females.