Nine years after last birth, SGNP staff find reason to cheer; tigress Bijlee was brought to national park last year only for reproduction
Bijlee has struck a chord of hope at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). The nine-year-old tigress, who was brought last year from the state's Pench tiger reserve to mate and increase the population of captive tigers at SGNP, has conceived and is likely to give birth in the next two to three weeks.
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Sources say she and an eight-year-old tiger, Yash, mated multiple times over the last three to four months. The SGNP authorities confirmed Bijlee's pregnancy.
Anwar Ahmed, chief conservator of forests and director of SGNP, confirms that Bijlee is pregnant. "She has successfully conceived. We are keeping our fingers crossed. She may deliver cubs soon."
Another SGNP official says special arrangements have been made for the gestation period. "We have converted her enclosure into a tiger's den, to give it a natural feel. Five WiFi-enabled CCTV cameras have been installed for real-time round-the-clock monitoring of the den."
A tigress' gestation lasts 16 weeks, and usually, three to four cubs are delivered in a litter. SGNP is home to seven captive tigers --- four female, two male Royal Bengal and a male albino. Two of the additions, Bijlee and Mastani, were made in July last year. Both had been rescued as cubs by the authorities of the Pench reserve. After attempts to release them into the wild failed, they were sent to SGNP to raise its tiger population.
SGNP lost 13-year-old Palash – which had been brought from a Madhya Pradesh zoo in 2006 – last October. He had sired three cubs – Anand, Yash and Laxmi – with Basanti. These three were the last to be born at SGNP in 2008.
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