Angul: With the Royal Bengal tigress Sundari showing no signs of leaving human settlements in the periphery areas of Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary and protests by locals to translocate the animal, the state forest department and the expert team of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) from Dehradun have begun the process to capture it.
Sources said the Forest Department has brought two cages to catch the tigress. Two cages of 8 feet length and 4 feet height have been placed at two villages under Athamallik forest office and another near Raiguda forest range office where the tigress has been spotted in the recent past.
A team of officials from Wild Life Institute of India, WCC, special Investigation and members of the Bhubaneswar PCCF reached in Angul Tuesday evening to cage the animal. The four teams from both Dehradun and Bhubaneswar have formed a committee to keep track on the movements of the tigress.
The move to cage the animal comes in the wake of the death of a woman due to alleged ‘attack’ by the tigress and the killing of several cattle. While the forest officials have decided to trap the animal within two to three days, there has been no reports of translocation.
Meanwhile, rumours did rounds that it has been decided that the tigress would be released into the core area of the Satkosia Tiger Reserve and there would be no translocation of the tigress.
The animal which was relocated from Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh to increase big cat population in Satkosia has spread panic among the locals who have demanded to translocate the animal.
Locals have demanded the translocation of the tigress as it has started straying into human habitats. The tigress has been making its presence felt around human settlements in the periphery of Athmallik Forest Range since August 11. After staying near Rangapur village for two days, it was seen on the outskirts of Jadupur and the nearby villages of Khambeswarpalli, Nuagada and Siddhapur, creating panic among the villagers.
Till reports last came in, the tigress was moving inside the forest about 3 km from the Athmallik town. Some locals also informed about having seen the tigress once near the Athmallik College. A team of Forest staff of Athmallik range had come face-to-face with the tigress on the outskirts of Jadupur village on the afternoon of September 23.
When contacted, additional chief conservator of forest, Dr. Sudarshan Panda said the teams from Dehradun and Bhubaneswar will cage the animal. But, the tigress won’t be tranquilized, he added.
Recently, a Divisional Forest Officer of Satkosia Wildlife Division was shunted for informing media about the tigress that fuelled speculation regarding relocation of the animal from the Satkosia Tiger Reserve. However, the WII team remains mum about the translocation.
It may be noted here that the tigress had allegedly mauled a 35-year-old woman to death on September 12 when she was taking bath in a pond near the forest.
The incident led to violence as the villagers demanded the relocation of the wild cat. Angry over the death, the locals had set afire the forest beat house at Hatibari and the forest department’s range office at Tikarpada. They also torched five boats of the forest department.
Later, the post-mortem report of the deceased woman revealed that the death was due to asphyxia and wounds caused by wild animal bite. Notably, the locals have been protesting since Sundari was brought to Satkosia on June 28 and released into the wild on August 17.
PNN
