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Tigress Sundari likely to be relocated to Madhya Pradesh

Posted on September 13, 2018 from Orissa, National ι Report #223143

Bhubaneswar, Sep 13 (IANS) The Odisha government is likely to send back the Royal Bengal tigress 'Sundari' to the Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh after it mauled a woman to death in Satakosia wildlife sanctuary in Angul.

The decision was taken after local residents resorted to a violent protest following the death of the woman after being allegedly attacked by the tigress on Wednesday.

"To tranquilise the royal cat, two teams of forest officials from Dehradun in Uttarakhand and Bandhavgarh National Park are on the way to Satkosia," said Angul Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra on Thursday.

He said the Forest Department has decided to send the Bengal tigress back to her original habitat in Madhya Pradesh tentatively by September 15.

S.M.T Rahman, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Satkosia Wildlife Division, said the tigress will be captured by the expert teams by September 15.

However, sources in the wildlife department said no decision has been taken yet on the return of the tigress to Bandhavgarh National Park.

"Sundari will be relocated away from human habitations. But, no decision has been taken so far on the return of the tigress to Bandhavgarh sanctuary. We will take a final decision after receiving a report from the local forest officials," sources added.

Notably, tension ran high after the woman, identified as Kailashi Soya, was allegedly killed by the tigress at Hatibari under Tikarapada range in Satkosia forest.

Angry over the death, the local residents set fire to the forest beat house at Hatibari and forest department's range office at Tikarpada. They also torched five boats of the forest department on Wednesday night.

The 27-month-old Royal Bengal tigress was released into the Satkosia Tiger Reserve on August 17 to increase the population of the big cat in the sanctuary.

--IANS

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