28 August 2025
How Safari Was Born
A few years ago, Comet’s founder visited Panna Tiger Reserve and met naturalist George Matthew. George’s infectious energy and his incredible account of how Panna reintroduced tigers through the efforts of dedicated conservationists left a deep impression.
In that moment, a promise was made: to share this story with more people and to create something that honored both the natural beauty of India’s wildlife and the tireless work of those who protect it for future generations.
That promise became Safari, a shoe dedicated to Panna and to the spirit of preservation.
The Men Who Brought Tigers Back to Panna
In the heart of Madhya Pradesh lies Panna, a land of rugged plateaus, diamond mines, and sweeping gorges. Once home to nearly thirty tigers, by 2008 it had lost every single one. Poaching, local revenge killings, and weak forest governance had erased the roar from this biosphere. The reserve was officially declared “zero tigers.”
It was a bleak time. Researchers like Raghu Chundawat had already raised the alarm, bravely going public when they could not even find pugmarks. But the crisis needed more than research; it needed action. That action came in the form of a forester whose name still stirs pride in conservation circles: Sreenivasa Murthy.
Enter Murthy: The Turning Point
In 2009, R Sreenivasa Murthy, a dynamic forest officer took over the project and his work there on is why he has been affectionately called " The Tiger man of Panna". Where others saw a challenge, he saw it as his duty to bring back tigers to Panna. He broke rigid hierarchies in the forest department, empowering even the lowest-ranked guards by telling them: “You are the field director of your beat. Protect it like your own.”
His leadership transformed the reserve. Anti-poaching units were strengthened, awareness spread among locals, and most importantly, he initiated one of the most ambitious projects in Indian conservation history: the tiger translocation program.
The Great Translocation
Murthy oversaw the introduction of tigresses T1 and T2 from other reserves, later followed by T3 — a massive male from Pench. These were radio-collared and monitored, but the story took a dramatic turn when T3 went missing.
For the first time ever, India saw “missing tiger notices” pasted in villages and published in newspapers. T3 had wandered more than 250 kilometers, crossing rivers, railway lines, and towns in a determined march. Conservationists realised he was following his homing instinct — trying to return to the land he had come from. A first ever homing instinct recorded ever in Tigers, this led to international acclaim and brought Serbian and Chinese tiger experts to Panna to understand this behavior more.
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A Legacy of Roars
T1, T2, and T3 went on to breed. Cubs were born. The reserve, once silent, filled again with the calls of tigers. Today, the tigers of Panna carry forward the legacy of those first translocated cats, each with coded names like P663 and P142, marking new generations.
Murthy’s work is now studied internationally, and his story is whispered as the stuff of legend, especially in the naturalist societies, a man who brought a dead reserve back to life.
Tiger Nomenclature in Panna
Tigers in Panna carry names beginning with either P or T:
- P stands for Panna-born — a tiger born naturally within the Panna reserve.
- T stands for Translocated — a tiger brought into Panna from another reserve during the tiger reintroduction project.
Example: P336
Let’s break down what P336 means:
- P = Born in Panna.
- 3 = Descended from T3, a translocated male tiger who became one of the founding fathers of Panna’s revived population.
- 3 = The third child of T3 was named P33.
- 6 = P336 is the sixth offspring (grandson) of P33.
So, P336 represents the 6th grandson of T3, through T3’s 3rd child P33.
Why It Matters
Panna is unlike most tiger reserves in India. While the entire country has struggled with the threat of extinction of our national animal, the mighty tiger, Panna has shown a different path. Thanks to the tireless efforts of naturalists such as Mr. Raghu Chundawat and Mr. R. Sreenivasa Murthy, the reserve stands as living proof that when humanity chooses to act, it can protect nature and rekindle the spirit of a forest.
Photo Credits: Saurav Mahant
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