BHUBANESWAR: After Satkosia, the authorities are targeting the forest areas under Mahanadi wildlife division to release tigers, to be brought in the second phase from other states.
With the Royal Bengal tiger Kanha and tigress Sundari brought from Madhya Pradesh coming closer to each other in Satkosia forest area, good news is expected from the couple very soon.
The forest department will plan to start translocation process in the second phase to have one more pair of tigers if the ‘man-eating’ Sundari will not pose any threat to human habitats in Satkosia forest.
After Satkosia, the next target is Mahanadi wildlife division where the big cats will be released, said principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Sandeep Tripathy.
Presently, the focus is on Satkosia Tiger Reserve where the forest department achieved success in making efforts to establish relationship between two wild tigers. The mating may bring good news by New Year, he said.
Strict vigil has been kept on movement of the Royal Bengal tigress Sundari ahead of getting some good news. With success of the project, the forest department will bring more tigers for forests under Mahanadi Wildlife Division.
In view of tiger scare among residents inside Satkosia forest and to facilitate the tigers for free movement, the department is planning to relocate the villagers in core area of Satkosia to other locations, where they will be provided houses.
Also, the tiger awareness programme is being initiated and priority is being given on relocation of villagers and creation of forest. However, the process will take two years, Mr Tripathy said.
Notably, the tiger census is underway across the state. More cameras are being installed in the forests where the movement of tigers is reported. Several new varieties of tigers are also being captured on the camera lenses in various locations including Debrigarh and Muniguda forests. The tiger is also reported at Karalapat forest. However, it is yet to identify whether that is hyena or tiger, he added.
