Lone Tigress In Odisha’s Satkosia Reserve Now Goes Missing

Triggering the fears of the Satkosia tiger reserve in Odisha going tiger-less, the lone tigress left in the park has reportedly gone missing.

As per reports, there has been no sighting of her since the past two months in the 795 square km tiger reserve.

Sources said she was last captured on a trap camera installed by the Forest department on November 23, 2021.

The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Sashi Paul sought to downplay reports of her disappearance.

“A tiger census is currently underway at several sanctuaries. So the cameras have been moved to other places for counting,” he said attributing reasons for the Forest authorities’ inability in tracking the big cat down.

“We will bring in more cameras and try to track her movements at Satkosia very soon,” he added.

The Odisha government had embarked on an ambitious tiger translocation project whereby a tigress, Sundari, along with a male tiger had been released at the Satkosia sanctuar after they were brought from the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh in 2018.

While the male tiger was allegedly killed by poachers, tigress Sundari had allegedly killed two persons in Satkosia region. Following the human deaths, she was confined to an enclosure, and later sent to the Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) of Madhya Pradesh, effectively failing the Odisha government’s project.