The Reserve forests and some protected forests in Chhatarpur district were the hunting preserves of the erstwhile rulers of princely states of Panna, Chhatarpur and Bijawar.
The official figures of tigers in Panna Tiger Reserve were as follows:

 In March, 2005, the Sunday Express first reported about the vanishing tigers in Rajasthan, prompting the Government of India to take urgent measures.
Around that time, a field researcher submitted a report that some 23 tigers had died or gone amissing in the Panna Tiger Reserve over the past two-and-a-half years.

The Director, Tiger Project, Govt. of India, New Delhi poo poohed the report and insisted there were 32 tigers. By early 2009, it was clear that there was only on male tiger left in Panna. In March 2009, two tigresses were relocated from Bandhavgarh and Kanha national parks to breed with the surviving male tiger. But by May 2009, even he had vanished. In April 2009, a central government team led by former National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief P.K. Sen confirmed that there were no tigers left in Panna.

In June 2009, Madhya Pradesh Congress demanded formation of an all-party MLAs

committee to probe into the reason behind the disappearance of the big cats from the reserve.

The same month Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment and Forests, said the government will fix accountability for the exaggerated projection of the tiger population in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna forest reserve.

What is needed is not enquiry by expert or in-expert committees, but fixing of responsibility.
How is it possible that the officials in charge of the Panna Reserve were not aware of the vanishing tigers?
They should have been the first to point this out.

And how could the Director sitting in his cosy office in Delhi discredit a researcher’s findings instead of trying to ascertain the facts.

Responsibility should be fixed and stringent action should be taken fast.