Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): One male and four female bison were translocated to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve from Satpura Tiger Reserve on Friday morning. Translocation has been undertaken to ensure genetic variability among bison population.
Translocated bison have been kept in a specially created enclosure. Sources said the exercise was carried out under joint collaboration of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Forest Department. The project has been christened “Population Management Strategies for Gaur (Bison): Supplementation of Gaur in Bandhavgarh.”
In first phase of project, 22 bison were successfully translocated to Bandhavgarh in February 2025. In second phase, a total of 27 bison will be translocated.
For translocation of five bison, nine teams of forest officials were constituted, including two wildlife doctors. Four vehicles were used for translocation purpose.
Notably, bison had disappeared from Bandhavgarh landscape in 1990. Later, a bison reintroduction programme was launched in 2010–11 and 50 bison were translocated from Kanha Tiger Reserve. Programme proved successful, and Bandhavgarh now has around 191 bison.
Capture operation in Churna range
Officials of Satpura Tiger Reserve captured five bison from Churna range under leadership of WII scientist Dr Parag Nigam and Field Director Rakhi Nanda. Satpura Tiger Reserve has a large bison population, second only to Kanha Tiger Reserve.
