Angul: Eight days after Royal Bengal tigress Sundari was tranqualised and kept in an enclosure for having attacked villagers and their livestock, the male of this pair brought to Satkosia Tiger reserve in first-of-its-kind inter-state wild-to-wild translocation was found dead in the core area of the forest on Wednesday afternoon.
The three-year-old tiger, Mahavir, was brought from Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh on June 21. After being kept in an enclosure for around two weeks, the tiger was released into the wild on July 7.
The tiger, which was constantly tracked over the last five months, had been immobile for some time. Tracking devices showed it at one particular spot for a long time raising suspicion. It was only on Wednesday afternoon that some forest officials decided to move closer and ascertain if their devices were malfunctioning or something had happened to the tiger. They found the big cat deep in the core area under Raiguda range on Hindol-Narsinghpur border lying immobile. They then realised that it was dead, according to a report published in The Statesman.
Since the tiger had wounds on its neck, it is being suspected that another wild animal might have attacked him, resulting in maggots and death. However, the role of poachers has not been ruled out.
The tiger had reportedly “settled” in Satkosia forests mating with a female.
On the other hand, Sundari, the tigress from Bandhavgad in Madhya Pradesh, was tranquilised on November 6, following public outrage after it purportedly mauled two persons to death.
Following a sharp decline in the number of Royal Bengal tigers in the state, the Odisha government had picked Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary for raising the population of the big cats since it abounds with herbivorous animals. After Mahavir and Sundari, efforts were on to bring two more pairs of tigers in phases.
With reports of the death of the male from Kanha, questions will now be raised on the feasibility of this initiative and safety of the endangered species, against the backdrop of Debigarh tiger death incident.
