Bhubaneswar: A three-year-old male Royal Bengal Tiger will be released into Satkosia Sanctuary in Angul district on Thursday evening.
It is being brought from Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh by a team of Odisha Forest Department officials.
Sources said the team left Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday with the tiger after tranquillizing it. The big cat is being brought in a special vehicle fitted with fans and water sprinklers to regulate its body temperature.
A team of veterinary doctors is accompanying the forest officials to monitor the health of the tiger.
Talking to mediapersons here, Chief Wildlife Warden, Odisha, SandipTripathy said the forest department had shifted people from the core area of the sanctuary where the tiger would be released. A special enclosure with an iron grill has been built in the core forest area for the purpose.
Villagers of 100-year-old tribal village of Rajgoda have been shifted from the core area of the sanctuary to Saruali, which is about 7km away to make space for a full-fledged tiger reserve.
“Our aim is neither to raise the population of the Royal Bengal tigers nor to increase the forest boundary, but to maintain a balance in the biodiversity of Satkosia Sanctuary,” he pointed out.
In the initial phase, one male tiger would be released in the core area of the sanctuary with provisions of enclosure, prey base (the assemblage of prey animals available in a given area or habitat to support a predator) and surveillance.
“After its successful movement in the habitat, arrangements would be made to bring the remaining two pairs of Royal Bengal tigers from Madhya Pradesh,” Tripathy said.
It may be mentioned here that the forest departmenthad submitted a proposal to the Odisha government last year for the relocation of the tigers from Madhya Pradesh in view of the dwindling population of the big cat in the sanctuary. The Madhya Pradesh government had agreed in principle to release five Royal Bengal tigers from Bandhavgarh National Park or the Kanha National Park.
