Bengal Tigress Sundari To Stay In Satkosia: WII

Bhubaneswar: The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) team, which is in Odisha to study the behaviour of Royal Bengal Tigress Sundari, on Monday maintained that there was no question of shifting the tigress to any other place and she will continue to stay in the Satkosia Tiger Reserve.

“This is an ambitious mission and project taken up by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to increase the number of the royal cats in the country. As this project is finalised, any alteration and change in the decision will be very difficult. We have studied several aspects of this project in details and any problem arising on this issue would be settled in a sustained manner,” WII expert Dr Ramesh told the media.

Talking about the protests from people of the villages in and around Satkosia sanctuary demanding to shift the tigress, he said the state Forest department will seek their cooperation.

Talking about the death of the woman, Ramesh said the public outrage is quite obvious due to the unfortunate incident. But for such an unexpected and stray incident, shifting of the tigress is not justified. However, adequate steps are being taken to ensure that there will no such incident in the future.

The team of officials of the WII, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and NTCA from Dehradun, reached Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Angul district on Saturday and begun the monitoring Sundari to study its behaviour the following day.