The sun had not yet gone down, but some residents of Tainsi village had already lit up a log and sat around it, their taut faces betraying tension. Elsewhere in Kumuri village, Bikram Pradhan, 42, moved around carrying an axe on his shoulder.
One common thread runs through them – they are all scared of Sundari, the tigress who has already notched up two human kills and is now a ‘man-eater.’ The fire and axe are their defence.
Tainsi and Kumuri villages are located near the core area of Satkosia wildlife sanctuary.
Sundari, brought from Bandhavgarh National Park of Madhya Pradesh with an objective to raise the big cat population in Satkosia wildlife sanctuary, has, besides the two human beings, killed three cattle heads, consumed a dog, injured three persons, including a journalist, and two more farm animals.
The ‘problem’ Royal Bengal Tigress (RBT) has not only earned the tag of a man-eater, but the loss of lives has triggered widespread outrage resulting in large scale violence in Angul district. This has forced the authorities to deploy three tranquilising teams to bring the tigress back into the enclosure to avert further damage.
A tigress, claimed by forest department to have no past record of aggressive behavior, turning man-eater has come as a shock to the animal lovers as well.
There are allegations that the department didn’t make the requisite impact assessment before relocating the tigress into the sanctuary, which has resulted in such violence and loss of lives and properties.
Orissa POST correspondents Friday visited the villages in the core area where the tigress allegedly mauled people to death and lifted cattle. They also spoke to officials to take stock of the situation.
Additional principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) Sudarshan Panda tried to downplay the entire affair saying the deaths were accidental and all procedures were followed by the authorities before relocation of the big cats in the wilds of Satkosia.
The prey base density in Satkosia is poor in comparison to other national parks in the country which is why the tigress is heading towards human settlement for its survival, according to allegations in a section of media and made by the locals.
This apart, it was alleged that the tigress was brought from a different landscape (plains area) and it finds it difficult to hunt herbivores in the hilly bushes of Satkosia. Therefore, it heads towards the plains to satiate her hunger.
The additional PCCF said it was not the forest department alone which had decided to shift the tigress. Four other agencies — National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, Ministry of Environment and Forest and the Madhya Pradesh Government — were also involved in the entire exercise. All aspects were carefully examined before the move was made, he added.
He, however, admitted that the prey base density in Satkosia was earlier very poor, but has improved in the last few years due to several measures initiated by the department. Though he acknowledged that the prey density in Kanha National Park and a few others that house more tigers is better than Satkosia, he was sure the number of herbivores in Satkosia was enough to feed at least 10 tigers. He put the prey density in Satkosia at around 25 per sq km.
When contacted over telephone to ascertain the prey base density of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, from where tigress Sundari was relocated, its field director Mridul Pathak informed that the density is something around 65 per square hectare in the reserve, which is much more compared to the density of that in Satkosia reserve.
When asked how many herbivores Sundari had hunted in the past 70 days after she was released into the wild, Panda put the figure at 5 – three deer and two boars.
This indicates that the tigress has not had enough opportunity to prey upon herbivores and thus headed towards human habitation.
Referring to the question of different landscapes, he said, there were enough plain areas in Satkosia sanctuary and it was not an issue.
However, divisional forest officer Ramaswamy P, when asked why it was taking so much time to tranquilise the tigress, said it was mostly roaming in the bushy areas making it difficult for the team members to shoot the drugs properly.
Asked if the translocation could have been deferred for a few years until the prey density improved in Satkosia, the additional PCCF said they could not afford to delay it with the number of tigers in the sanctuary having dipped to one. He said it would take nearly 10 years to improve the prey base from ‘fair’ to ‘good’.
While the Forest department claims that sensitisation drives were taken up across the villages prior to the relocation of the tigers, many villagers alleged they had no knowledge as to how to deal with the situation.
The villagers are so terror-stricken that at least 14 upper primary schools and two high schools in the area were found closed.
The district education officer couldn’t be contacted over the development.
Panicky villagers
Krushna Pradhan, 50, a resident of Kumuri village, which is part of the sanctuary, said they were living under constant threat as the tigress lifted a male calf before their eyes.
Dura Pradhan, Krushna’s wife, said, their standing crops have been damaged by other wild animals as they were no more visiting their farmlands fearing the presence of the tigress.
Sanatan Behera, a 45-year-old daily wager of Tainisi village, said they had become jobless since farmer Trinath Sahoo was killed by the tigress. They are afraid to step out of the village even during the day. When asked whether the department had sensitised them before releasing the tigress in the area, he answered in the negative.
Late Trinath’s son Suresh said his father was looking after the cultivation and the family was yet to overcome the shock.
Hemanta Naik, a 40-year-old-youth, said the patrol team of forest department never reached the village when the tigress was here. He said, the villagers never beat up any official as alleged by some department officials.
Experts speak:
Wildlife expert Biswajit Mohanty said survival of tigers near human habitation is difficult without the support of the locals. At least 50,000 cattle enter the forest from nearly 100 villages every day along with people involved in grazing. So it is difficult for the co-existence of the tiger with the villagers unless they are counseled properly.
Saroj Kumar Patnaik, former chief wildlife warden, said he was extremely sad with the loss of lives and properties. Relocation of tiger from MP to increase the big cat’s population here is a novel project and it should be a success. However, involvement of people is a must to make it a success, he added.
IN LOVE AND HAPPY
While Sundari has wreaked havoc among the people with her hostile nature and has kept officials on their toes, the behaviour of the Royal Bengal Tiger that was brought from Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh , meanwhile, evokes tremendous curiosity as he continues to keep a low profile. The RBT was brought to the state June 21 and released from the enclosure July 6. After that, he paired up with a resident tigress and the officials claim the tigress would deliver by the end of January 2019. When asked about Kanha tiger’s behavior, additional PCCF Panda said behaviour varied from tiger to tiger. While Kanha tiger has settled down restricting his territory within 20 sq kms, the tigress is covering around 100 sq km and is yet to settle down.
Time Line
22.09.2016: The state forest & environment department moved a proposal to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) seeking three pairs of Royal Bengal Tigers to enhance big cat population
26.10.2017: NTCA approved the proposal
28.02.2018: The forest & environment department of Madhya Pradesh agreed to relocate Sundari to Satkosia tiger reserve as a part of India’s first inter-state tiger relocation project
27.06.2018: Tigress ‘Sundari’ tranquilised at Bandhavgarh National Park and shifted to Satkosia tiger reserve
28.06.2018: Sundari caged in the enclosure at Satkosia tiger reserve
29.06.2018: Sundari haunted her first prey at the Satkosia enclosure, a boar
17.08.2018: The tigress was released into the wild
Mridul Pathak, the field director of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, from where tigress Sundari was relocated informed that the density is something around 65 per square hectare in the reserve, which is much more compared to the density of that in Satkosia reserve.
Note: The officials of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had earlier visited the Satkosia tiger reserve and had expressed satisfaction with the congenial tiger-friendly environs and prey-base in the Satakosia reserve forest
24,096 herbivores in Satkosia
The Satkosia Tiger Reserve Project is spread over 963.87 sq.km of area constituting the forested areas of Satkosia Ganda sanctuary and Baisipalli sanctuary and is managed by Satkosia wildlife division and Mahanadi wildlife division. The tigers will be brought as there is no dearth of food for them as Satkosia has a population of 24,096 herbivorous animals with 25 per sq.km of in the forest. There are 13250.25 herbivorous animals in the Satkosia wildlife division which is spread over 530.01 sq.km of area. These herbivorous animals are Sambhar, deer, Barking deer, wild boar, Indian Bison, monkey, wild dogs (Balia), Chausinga and ‘Gurandi’. According to a joint survey carried out by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) there are over 25 herbivorous animals per sq.km of the tiger project Similarly, the adjoining Mahanadi wildlife division has a 10846.5 herbivorous population which is spread over 433.86 sq. km.
A peek into past
Champawat Tigress
The Champawat man-eating tigress was the most dangerous in the history of India, killing about 436 people. The animal killed by the renowned hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett in 1907. The tigress was known to enter villages, even during daylight, roaring and causing people to flee in panic to their huts. Autopsy of the tigress showed the upper and lower canine teeth on the right side of her mouth were broken, the upper one in half, the lower one right down to the bone. “This permanent injury had prevented her from killing her natural prey, and had been the cause of her becoming a man-eater,” Corbett claimed.
Man-eaters of Sundarbans
Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, is home to over 500 big cats. The man-eaters of Sundarbans kill 50 to 60 people a year and live very close to human settlements.
Tiger of Segur
The young majestic big cat that killed five people in Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu became a man-eater due to disability preventing it from hunting its natural prey. It was killed by Kenneth Anderson on the banks of the Segur River in 1954.
Tiger of Mundachipallam
The tiger of Mundachipallam killed seven people in the vicinity of Pennagram in Tamil Nadu in the 1950s. The tiger had no known infirmities preventing it from hunting its natural prey. Its first three victims were killed in unprovoked attacks, while the subsequent victims were devoured.
Tigers of Chowgarh
The Tigers of Chowgarh were a pair of man-eating Bengal tigers, consisting of an old tigress and her sub-adult cub, which for over a five-year period killed a reported 64 people in eastern Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand. Both tigers were killed by Jim Corbett.
Thak man-eater
The tigress from Eastern Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, killed four people and was the last hunt of Jim Corbett. Autopsy revealed that this tigress had two old gunshot wounds, one of which had become septic and forced her to turn from a normal predator hunting natural prey to a man-eater.
Man-eater of Bhimashankar
The Bhimashankar forest, one of the most beautiful regions near Pune, is now a wildlife sanctuary and a habitat of the Indian Giant Squirrel. A man-eating tiger terrorised the entire Bhimashakar area during a span of two years in the 1940s. The tiger supposedly killed more than a 100 people before it was killed by Kenneth Anderson.
Tigress of Moradabad
In February 2014, reports emerged that a tigress killed seven people near the Jim Corbett National Park. The tigress was later called the man-eater of Moradabad, as it was hunting in the Bijnor and Moradabad region. The tigress could not be traced by about 50 camera traps and an unmanned aerial vehicle. In August 2014, it was reported that tigress had stopped killing humans. The animal remained untraced.
Tigress of Yavatmal
Officially, she is T1, a deadly tigress weighing about 300 pounds, believed to be responsible for 14 deaths over the last two years. She prowls through the forests of Yavatmal in Maharashtra, bordering Andhra Pradesh. Earlier, efforts to trace the tigress and tranquilise her have failed, including an attempt by a team of shooters brought in from Hyderabad.
Bijay Mandal & Soyong, OP