Tiger translocation project temporarily closed after RBT death in Satkosia

Angul: The tiger translocation project was temporarily suspended following the death of the Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) ‘Mahabir’ in Satkosia forest here.

The further decision will be taken by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) after reviewing the situation to relocate the big cats, informed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Sandip Tripathy today.

Tiger Mahabir was brought from the Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha under the tiger translocation programme on June 21.

The big cat was found dead in Raiguda range on Hindol-Narsinghpur border with wound marks on its neck on Wednesday.

Though the exact cause of the tiger’s death is yet to be known, it is suspected that the tiger was caught in a net laid to capture deer.

The Satkosia authorities said that the tiger monitoring team reported about the mortality of male tiger at 1.00 pm on Nov 14. The incident occurred 500 mt from Raiguda to Nuagada forest road inside the Nuagarh reserve forest of Athagarh forest division, which is proposed to be included in Satkosia Tiger Reserve.

As per the prima facie investigation of the carcass, a deep lacerated and 5 days old Maggotted infected wound was observed in the dorsal neck region of the tiger which may be the cause of the mortality.

The site of incidence was not disturbed as per the NTCA protocol. Hence, the exact reason of the mortality and time of incidence will be ascertained after conducting the detail post-mortem examination, said the Satkosia Tiger Reserve authorities in a release.

A team has been constituted by the Satkosia Tiger Reserve Field Director comprising of government veterinary doctors, representatives of NTCA, local NGO and others in accordance with the SOP by NTCA to conduct the post-mortem of the tiger carcass.

The disposal of carcass through incineration will be carried out in presence of the veterinarian team and others by following NTCA protocol.

Satkosia DFO Ramasamy P has been appointed as the investigating officer to probe the matter and for initiating the further course of action.

Notably, the State Forest department is drawing flak after Royal Bengal tigress ‘Sundari’ reportedly killed two persons near Satkosia. The incidents triggered huge public outcry mounting pressure on the government to relocate the big cat from Satkosia.

Currently, the ‘man-eater’ tigress is put in the enclosure and NTCA is yet to give its nod to relocate the wild animal from Satkosia to Nandankanan Zoological Park on outskirts of Bhubaneswar.