Angul: Royal Bengal tigress Sundari gave the slip to the expert team in Satkosia sanctuary waiting to tranquilise the big cat Wednesday night.
Speaking to media persons Thursday, Dr Indramani Nath, one of the members of the tranquilising team, said the team had made all efforts to capture the tigress near Kumuri village Wednesday night and had kept a goat tied to a tree as bait.
“After waiting for some time, Sundari came out of the forest and moved towards the bait. However, it ran away when the team hiding atop a tree was about to dart her,” he said.
According to reports, the big cat moved towards Chanchunia forest from Baghamunda.
A final decision on shifting Sundari would be taken after consultation with officials of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Sandeep Tripathi said.
The Forest department intensified its effort to catch the tigress after it killed an elderly person of Tainsi village inside the Satkosia Tiger Reserve October 21. Following the incident, tension ran high in the village. The irate villagers attacked a police team at Kanjara Mundasahi near NH-55 and torched a police van forcing the police to resort to lathi-charge.
PNN