A majestic wild Royal Bengal tiger from the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh was transported to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha’s Angul district. It has been temporarily kept in a two-and-a-half-acre enclosure for observation.
The Royal Bengal tiger translocated wild to wild from MP to Odisha on 21 June. (Photo: SNS)
It was a red letter day for the country’s tiger conservation campaign on Thursday as an inter-state wild-to-wild tiger translocation took place for the first time in India.
A majestic wild Royal Bengal tiger from the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh was transported to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha’s Angul district and temporarily kept in a two-and-a-half-acre enclosure created for it.
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Tiger experts from MP, Wild Life Institute, and wild life officers of MP and Odisha monitored the entire journey of the tiger, which is the first of the six big cats (three pairs) that the Odisha government had requested for.
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The Royal Bengal tiger was brought to Angul in a special vehicle equipped with temperature and moisture control. It was a road journey of 24 hours. A team of veterinary doctors was present all along, said Additional Chief Conservator of Forests, Angul, Sudarsan Panda.
Satisfied with the entire exercise, Panda said the tiger was in fine shape. It had been tranquillised before the shifting and was revived on arrival. “We will keep it in the two-and-a-half-acre enclosure for a day or two before releasing it. The enclosure has a prey base, a water body and CCTVs to monitor its health and help it acclimatise to the new surroundings,” he said.
READ | Satkosia Tiger Reserve ready to receive three pairs of tigers from MP
Forest Minister Bijayshree Routray had taken the initiative since last year and held a series of meetings with the WII and tiger experts. Since Satkosia reserve has only two tigers, which are very old too, the government felt it necessary to get at least six tigers. A study of Satkosia was conducted by experts who approved of the translocation given the prey base in the reserve, said Routray.
“We will bring the female within a few days as it was not possible to bring two in one vehicle,” said Panda.
Earlier, tiger translocation has taken place from one reserve to another within a state. “It is for the first time that such an inter-state translocation is taking place,” iterated Panda.
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