In a setback to Madhya Pradesh, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has refused to give its nod for reintroduction of white tigers in the State on the grounds that they have no ‘conservation value’.
The decision was taken in a technical committee meeting of NTCA recently along with the officials of the MP Forest Department. According to a note of the meeting, the committee had followed the response of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in this regard which was raised by the State Chief Wildlife Warden.
The note said, “WII has already made it amply clear that the reintroduction of white tiger into natural habitat is not desirable as white tiger is not a separate sub-species of tiger, but only an aberration of the Royal Bengal Tiger and hence it has no conservation value.” The note was accessed by Bhopal-based wildlife activist Ajay Dubey exercising his Right to Information (RTI).
The State Government has been trying to get a pair of white tigers for Sanjay Tiger Reserve in Sidhi district. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also written to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, requesting for a pair of white tigers from Nandankanan zoo. However, efforts to get tigers from Odisha were not successful.
There is no white tiger in wild or natural habitat in Madhya Pradesh. The State has about three such tigers in captivity. It is said that in 1953, a white male tiger was captured by Maharaj Martand Singh of Rewa (princely State in Madhya Pradesh). The tiger, after mating with a normal tigress, fathered white tiger cubs kept in captivity.
In another step towards tiger protection, MP Forest Department has also sought transfer of 11 elephants from Karnataka for monitoring of big cats. The elephants are required specially in Panna Tiger Reserve and in other wild habitat of big cats in the State.