Finally, Satkosia Tigress Sundari Tranquilised

Angul/Bhubaneswar: The people of the villages living in the Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary and its periphery in Odisha’s Angul district heaved a sigh of relief as the expert team, after two weeks of efforts, finally succeeded in tranquilising Royal Bengal tigress Sundari on Tuesday.

Informing this to the media, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Sandip Tripathy said that the expert team successfully darted the tigress. He said the expert team did not take the help of the Kumki elephant Yashoda in tranquilising the tigress.

Reports said the tigress was tranquilised near a Siva temple at Majhipada village under Tikarpada panchayat inside the sanctuary at arout 11 am.

He said that as decided the tigress would be taken to Raiguda and lodged in the enclosure where she was kept earlier after being brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

“The expert team of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will study the behaviour of the tigress inside the enclosure,” he added.

Asked whether the tigress would be later taken to Nandankanan Zoological park in Bhubaneswar or to be sent to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Tripathy said no final decision has been taken as of now.

As informed by Lala AK Singh, the wildlife expert, the tigress needs to be tranquilised again before being taken to the enclosure.

“Normally, a full-grown tiger regains consciousness about 15-20 minutes after being tranquillised. The effect can be seen in the eyes. If the eyes are diluted, one can be sure that the tiger is fully unconscious. Since it will take at least an hour to take the tigress to the enclosure, she will regain conscious inside the trap. So to calm her down, another dose of tranquilliser is necessary. Besides, efforts should be made to cool down the body of the tigress as the body temperature of a full-grown animal rises quickly under the impact of tranquillisation,” Singh pointed out.

Taking note of the failure of the expert team in tranquilising the tigress since October 23, the Forest department for the first time had engaged the Kumki elephant Yashoda of the Chandaka Sanctuary in Satkosia sanctuary on October 3.

Also Read: Sundari To Be Sent Back To Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve

Following the death of a woman of Hatibari village and a man of Tainsi village, who were suspected to have been killed by the tigress, the Forest department had decided to shift her to Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar.

The Forest department had brought Sundari from the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and released her inside the enclosure at Raiguda in the core area of Satkosia sanctuary on June 18. Later, she was released into the wild on August 18.