Dehradun, March 18 -- The Uttarakhand forest department is set to take up the second phase of its tiger translocation project to boost the population in the western part of Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR), with a proposal to shift five more tigers from Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) awaiting approval from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), officials said. The move comes as part of efforts to address the uneven distribution of tigers in the state. While Corbett Tiger Reserve and its adjoining landscapes host a significant number of big cats, the western part of Rajaji Tiger Reserve has remained largely devoid of tigers for a long time. Coco Rose, director Rajaji Tiger Reserve, said under the second phase of the project, five more tigers will be translocated from CTR to RTR. "We have sent a proposal to the NTCA for approval. It is currently pending with the authority. The objective of this project is to increase the number of tigers in the western part of Rajaji," he said. He said the proposed translocation aims to restore ecological balance in the region and ensure a more uniform distribution of tigers across habitats in the state. Uttarakhand has third highest tiger population in the country with 560 tigers, with Corbett Tiger Reserve reporting the highest tiger population with 260 tiger among the country's 53 tiger reserves, according to the last tiger census. According to the 2022 tiger census, the reserve recorded 260 tigers, while another 229 were counted in the larger Corbett landscape outside the protected area. According to the tiger census report, CTR has "one of the highest density tiger population in the world which is a source of tigers in the larger landscape. This has led to negative interaction of tigers with humans in and around the tiger reserve. To gain insights in how a territorial large mammal operates at such high density and provide an early warning system to alert nearby villages of tiger movement, radio collaring of tigers should be carried out in the tiger reserve". The translocation process was adopted to re-establish the breeding and to increase the number of tigers in RTR. Centre had approved the Uttarakhand tiger relocation project in 2016 and later a team of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) visited CTR and RTR and gave the nod to the project, said officials. The first tiger was translocated in December 2020 followed by a tigress in January 2021 . The third tigress was shifted to RTR in May, 2023 and the fourth tigress in March 2024, and fifth in May 2025. Rajaji Tiger Reserve is spread over three districts including Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal. It was formally granted the status of a tiger reserve in April 2015 and has an area of 1150 sq km approximately. In 2023, the Uttarakhand forest department said it was preparing a comprehensive plan to protect tigers and check human-animal conflict after 229 tigers were found outside the CTR, endangering the lives of both the animal as well as of villagers living outside the reserve area. "With so many tigers outside protected areas, there are chances of a surge in man-tiger conflict in Kumaon. So, we have decided to form a detailed proposal for the protection of these tigers outside Corbett and how to check their coming into conflict with the villagers. We also have to ensure these tigers don't become victims of poaching," a senior forest official had then said....