Suddenly on July 19, without warning, Control Party 2, also called CP-2, disappeared off the face of the earth. Its disappearance sent the entire Wildlife Department into a tizzy because CP 2 was the wild tigress flown by the Indian Air Force from Ranthambore to the Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary as part of Project Reintroduction, an ambitious relocation plan aimed at giving Sariska its big cats back. Ten days after she was moved, neither French satellite Argos tracking her via a 1.5-kg radio collar around its neck could trace it, nor could a team of 10 desperate foresters locate CP2. Even their handheld receivers, which could sniff its presence in a 2-km radius, did not beep. Forest officials were on the alert even as tiger CP-1, flown on June 27 and released just two days before the tigress, was spotted regularly, hunting prolifically and marking out its territory, often covering 10-12 km at a stretch. After a long wait, R.N. Mehrotra, chief wildlife conservator, Rajasthan, noticed a flash on his LCD monitor at his Jaipur office on the morning of July 23. The satellite had finally sent a signal indicating the presence of the tigress in the 881-sq km Sariska. A signal was simultaneously received at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, where K. Sankar, senior scientist had been monitoring tiger movement. Mehrotra immediately transposed the longitude and latitude coordinates of the tigress on Google Earth and located the tigress in a nullah. A relocated tiger with a collar around its neck He called the foresters who discovered that the tigress had made a kill which she had dragged inside a shelter in a gorge, and this had hampered the collar's signals. For the first time, the staff in Rajasthan is using modern technology- ground-based VHF as well as satellite detection communication tools-to track the wild cats. The satellite collar, which records data once in three days via GPS, has a life of two years and costs Rs 7 lakh, apart from the cost of data transmission at Rs 1 lakh every year. Increasing the frequency of signals results in faster reduction in battery and collar life. The ground-based collar is cheaper as it costs less than a lakh. Realising that monitoring tigers is not expensive, the WII is using four satellite collars in the Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh and two in Sariska. The VHF collars have been fitted on one tiger in Pench, Madhya Pradesh, four in Ranthambore and three in Kanha. These technologies even allow foresters interesting insights into the behaviour of the tigers. CP-1 and CP-2 were transported after the state Government's steering committee, headed by Bhilwara MP V.P. Singh, recommended relocating the big cats to Sariska after it suffered the ignominy of losing all its cats in 2004. The sanctuary's new residents have been moving closer to each other gradually. Their territories have not overlapped as yet, but the tigress- reclusive and sighted only twice-has made two dozen calls indicating her keenness to meet the tiger, raising hopes of mating. At Ranthambore she was pairing with another tiger and if she is pregnant will only be known in October. "There is a plan to release a male and a female next year depending on the progress of the project," says P.L. Sinha, director WII. Wardens track the cats The government's proposal to shift tigers had met with cynicism initially. Environmentalists usually are opposed to such moves and even the Centre was apprehensive: What about factors that had played havoc with the tigers? The local population, living in 300 huts in 11 settlements, inside the sanctuary either had no clue about poaching or had maintained silence or, as some officials allege, even connived in poaching. But now, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is expected to move the villagers out of the sanctuary, something that previous governments had avoided. Raje also demanded that the Centre back her on the relocation of tigers. Finally, a green signal, but with conditions, came from non other than the Prime Minister. "We want the shifting of people from the core area before bringing more tigers here," says Sinha as that would ensure 340 sq km of unpopulated area for the cats. Now, Rs 19 crore have been sanctioned for moving out the villages while tiger relocation gets Rs 1.5 crore. The relocation has triggered off a debate whether animals can be moved from over-populated forests to new habitats with enough prey. Experts are now looking at the Sariska experiment for answers. But the challenge is most tiger reserves have shrunk into forest islands. Sinha opposes any release in isolated islands fearing difficulties in protecting tigers but Mehrotra says this could be a way to conserve species in the future. Singh, who had argued for relocation says: "We have brought Sariska and Ranthambore closer." This is likely to turn sanctuaries like Kaila Devi, very close to Ranthambore, into a regular tiger habitat to take care of the excess population. However, a lot depends upon the local community's involvement. "People must feel that they can make a livelihood through tigers," says Raje, as she sets up the Ranthambore Tiger Conservation Foundation, which is likely to be followed by one for Sariska. But, right now, the security of tigers is top priority. The Rajasthan Armed Police has been deputed at Ranthambore, Sariska and Kaila Devi. However, much needs to be done to revamp the Forest Department. Against one chief conservator of forests in 1987, there were 10,000 guards while today there are 27 chief conservators with a ground staff of only 3,000 men. Relocation is just one of the steps for saving the tiger and it is too early to say whether it has succeeded, as the deeper malaise which failed them earlier has not been cured yet. Both, Indian forests and the new couple in Sariska have an arduous journey ahead.