Bantala: The effort of the forest department to ensnare tigress Sundari seems to be inadequate so far as it was spotted Friday at Taranda village in Maimura panchayat, a core area of Hatidhara reserve forest.
The region comes under Dhandatopa range of Athamallik forest division in Angul district.
According to reports, Bhama Nayak (25), a woman of the village, came face to face with Sundari when she had gone to dump cow dung. Though the tigress was just 20 ft away from her and had eye contact with her, it didn’t attack her, Nayak said, adding, the woman managed to escape from the spot.
Other villagers also came to the scene but by then the tigress had disappeared. They immediately brought the cattle and goats to their sheds fearing attack by the big cat.
On the other hand, 60 forest officials along with a monitoring team led by Wildlife Institute of India’s senior scientist K Ramesh, senior veterinary doctor Sandip Agrawala of Kanha National Park and other doctors reached the spot with tranquiliser gun. However, they failed to fire in time. Many lathi-wielding villagers including Rabi Nayak, Bideshi Nayak and others helped the officials in their effort but in vain.
The monitoring team advised the villagers not to panic. The survival of the tigers would lead to development of the village as there will be increase in tourist footfall in the area. The villagers would get more earning opportunities with the increase in number of visitors, explained the team.
The team members also said the increase in number of tigers would attract more grants from the Centre which would be used for the development of peripheral villages. The villagers were asked to inform the divisional forest officers in case of any problems.
The WII members also said they would take the villagers of Satkosia to Kanha, Panna and Bandhavgarh National Parks to show them how people are peacefully accommodating wild animals without making any harms to them.
Senior scientist Ramesh said tigers are not the enemies of human beings as they play a pivotal role in maintaining ecological balance.
A tigress which was present earlier in Satkosia is now pregnant, thanks to the RBT brought from Kanha. The tigress would deliver her cubs in January, said veterinary doctors.
PNN
