After a four-month delay and several attempts in the second phase to revive the number of big cats in Sariska, a tigress was flown in the reserve forest from Ranthambhore on Wednesday to join a tiger pair that was moved here last year.

The three-and-a-half-year-old tigress, weighing 143 kg, was tranquilised at Guda Range in the Ranthambhore Park and airlifted in an Indian Air Force helicopter to Sariska at 11.20 am in a joint operation between Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Rajasthan Forest department.

This is the third big cat to be re-introduced in the forest where the entire tiger population was wiped out due to rampant poaching. “The sedated tigress was sleepy and comfortable during the chopper ride,” WII scientist K Sankar said. The translocation came almost four months after the original deadline had lapsed, and a realisation that expensive equipment, as well as schedules, may not go as per plan.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had charted a repopulation plan for Sariska, according to which a second tigress was to be shifted on November 3, 2008, coinciding with the peak mating season. However, the schedule for the Rs 1.5-crore-plan could not be followed because the Rajasthan Forest department and WII was unable to catch a tigress in Ranthambhore.

The new tigress has been fitted with a dipole collar with a 6-km signal range.

“We are happy that the translocation was successfully carried out. The tigress was undisturbed during the flight,” said Rajpal Singh, member, Special Empowered Committee on Wildlife and Environment.