An Indian tigress was flown by helicopter from one national park to another yesterday as part of an unprecedented attempt to revive the tiger population in western India.

The tigress joined a young male that was airlifted last Saturday to Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve, where the entire tiger population has been wiped out by poachers.

Both animals, which were moved from the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, also in the western state, have been fitted with radio collars so that wildlife authorities can monitor their progress.

If they settle, three more animals could join them over the coming months, and the same techniques could be used in other parts of India, wildlife officials said.

It is the first time that such a tiger relocation scheme has been attempted and represents one of the Indian Government's boldest efforts to date to halt a rapid decline in its tiger population.

Belinda Wright, an Indian-born Briton who heads the Wildlife Protection Society of India, said: “It's quite risky, but it's a risk worth taking.

“I think there's a very good chance that this is going to work.”

India had an estimated 40,000 tigers living in the wild a century ago, but the vast majority have since been wiped out, first by hunting and then by poaching to feed Chinese demand for tiger parts.

The latest tiger census in February showed that there were 1,411 living in the wild, down from about 3,642 in 2002.

Sariska used to be India's most famous tiger sanctuary and was at the centre of the Project Tiger conservation programme launched by Indira Gandhi, the late Prime Minister, in 1973. In a big embarrassment for Indian wildlife authorities, the Government was forced to admit in 2005 that all of the tigers in the park had been killed.

Since then, the Government has launched an emergency programme to rescue the tiger, vowing to create eight new reserves and a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers.

It has also pledged $153 million over the next five years to pay for more forest guards, better equipment to track tigers, and relocation of 200,000 villagers living inside tiger reserves.

The Sariska relocation project, carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India, is the new programme's first real achievement. Wildlife experts say it is too early to declare it a success, not least because they fear that Sariska is still not properly protected from poachers.

Some worry about a busy national highway that runs next to the park, and a temple in the middle that attracts more than 200,000 pilgrims a year.

Another concern is that the relocated tigers may try to return to their former home.

The four-year-old male tiger, which is being kept in a large enclosure to begin with, appears to be adapting well and has made several kills in the last week, according to R.N. Mehrotra, the chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan.

Ms Wright said: “Tigers are solitary creatures - it's not that they get homesick, but all cats have a very strong homing instinct and there's always the worry that they'll take off.

“They have selected these animals very carefully, though. They are young adults, which have yet to find a stable home. If there's food and water, they should stay.”

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