Bengal Tigress ‘Sundari’ To Be Sent Back To Bandhavgarh National Park

Angul: The Odisha government has decided to send back the Royal Bengal tigress ‘Sundari’ to the Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh after she mauled a woman to death at Hatibari village under Tikarpada Forest Range in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Angul district, early on Wednesday morning.

Informing the media on Thursday, Angul SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said that the Forest Department has decided to send the Bengal tigress back to her original habitat in Madhya Pradesh tentatively by September 15.

“To tranquilise the royal cat, two teams of forest officials from Dehradun in Uttarakhand and Bandhavgarh National Park are on the way to Satkosia,” he added.

The SP further said that the people of Hatibari village led by members of the Khyatigrasta Praja Sangh, who had staged a road blockade at Hatibari with the body of the deceased woman on Wednesday, withdrew it after the Forest Department and the state government assured them of sending the tigress back to Madhya Pradesh.

“The Forest Department today provided a compensation of Rs 60,000 to the family of the deceased for her cremation and an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh. Besides, the district administration also assured a job to one of the family members,” Mahapatra informed.

The incident came to light early on Wednesday when the people of Hatibari village found the body of Kailashi Garnayak near a pond, on the outskirts of the village with multiple injuries.

Tension ran high in the village and irate villagers torched the Hatibari Forest Beat House and the Tikarpada Forest Range Office. Later, they took the body of the deceased woman and staged a blockade near their village demanding compensation to the bereaved family and shifting the Bengal tigress from the Satkosia Tiger Reserve.

Vehicular traffic between Angul and Tikarpada was disrupted due to the road blockade.

Prior to the woman, the Bengal tigress had killed a calf at Bipradiha village under Dhandatopa forest range under Athmallick Forest Division, about 40 km from the Satkosia Sanctuary on September 3.

The Royal Bengal tigress was released into the wild on August 18.