MP: After 25 years, Indian Bison to be reintroduced at Sanjay Tiger Reserve

Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh): About 50 Indian Bisons will be sent from Satpura Tiger Reserve and Kanha National Park to the Sanjay Tiger Reserve in Sidhi for rehabilitation purpose.

According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, work on the project has already begun and within about a month, 15 bison from Satpura Reserve and 35 from Kanha Tiger Reserve will be sent.

The plan is to keep three female bison with one male bison in order to extend the family of the species which went extinct from the park 25 years ago. The park's forests, flat plains, large pastures, and drinking water are also suitable for bison.

IUCN has declared Indian Bison vulnerable

The Satpura Tiger Reserve has the maximum number of about 5,000 bison in the state. Satpura Tiger Reserve's field director L Krishnamurthy said, “There are about 5 thousand bison in STR itself. Which is the highest in MP. For the first time, 15 bison are being sent from STR to Sanjay Tiger Reserve.”

The largest species among wild cattle, the Indian bison is also known as gaur. Notably, bison have not been spotted in Sanjay Tiger Reserve since 1998. The Indian Bison is marked as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.