A tribute to T1

Panna Tiger Reserve is mourning the loss of T1, a female Royal Bengal Tiger, who died in February. 

Panna Tiger Reserve is in Madhya Pradesh in India with the beautiful River Ken flowing through its heart. Some of the forests within the protected area were originally Royal hunting grounds. National park status was granted in 1981 and Panna officially became a tiger reserve (India's 22nd) in 1994. 

It's a very beautiful park, dotted with ancient rock-paintings and home to a diversity of life from gharials to leopards but it has a dark history. In spite of protected status Panna was ravaged by poaching throughout the 90s.

By 2009, not a single tiger was left. 

T1 arrived in March 2009, translocated from Bandhavgarh National Park,  the first tiger to arrive as part of an ambitious reintroduction programme which also saw tigress T2 translocated from Kanha and tiger T3 from Pench.

T3 immediately started making his way back to Pench, being tracked the whole time by researchers. He travelled more than 450km south, without conflict,  before being returned to Panna in December where he eventually settled on a territory and mated with T1.

Four cubs were born in April 2010. 

By this time T2 was also pregnant and four more cubs were born later that year.

T1 went on to have four further litters and successfully raised a total of 13 tiger cubs in the forests of Panna - an incredible legacy. Today there are estimated to be more than 80 tigers living in Panna.

T1 was discovered by forest rangers last month. They also found her inactive radio collar nearby. A post mortem has shown that T1 died of natural causes. She was 17 years old - far beyond the average life expectancy of a tigress, which is 14 years. 

If you are interested in seeing tigers in the wild in India or Nepal please visit our dedicated Asia wildlife travel site here.

If you'd like to visit Panna, you may be interested in this sample itinerary.

Image: T1 with cubs, courtesy Panna Tiger Reserve