MP Chief Minister Writes To Naveen To Ensure Proper Care Of Tigress ‘Sundari’

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote to his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday, urging him to take special care of  tigress 'Sundari' which was translocated from Bandhavgarh National Park in MP to Odisha's Satkosia Tiger Reserve under country’s  first interstate tiger translocation project.

Quoting media reports, he expressed concern that the tigress is not being taken care of properly as per prescribed guidelines by the NTCA due to which the animal has lost its natural instinct and behaviour.

"A team sent to Odisha to take back the tigress found that Sundari has lost is wild nature due to pro-longed confinement and presence of human around her. If it is released into the wild again, it would be dangerous for the animal as well as human. Experts have backed the idea of releasing it into a large safari enclosure. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has also given consent for preparation of such safari at Bandhavgarh, Pench and Kanha tiger reserve. The tigress would be staying at Ghorela centre in Kanha tiger reserve where a tiger cub is kept under supervision. Once the cub is moved out of the Ghorela centre, Sundari will be released into it," the letter by the Madhya Pradesh CM read.

"Therefore, I request you to ensure proper care of the tigress until we have prepared fully to take it back and shift it to Ghorela centre," Singh Chouhan stated.

In a tweet, he also mentioned that the government of Madhya Pradesh had given tigress ‘Sundari’ and a male partner to Odisha in 2018 with a special request of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and government of Odisha.

It is worth mentioning that the Odisha Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife, Hari Shankar Upadhyay recently wrote to the NTCA to take call on the tigress which has been in confinement in an enclosure for long. He urged the NTCA to clarify whether the tigress will be staying in Odisha or it would be taken back to its original habitat.

Earlier in December last year, the NTCA had also instructed the government of Madhya Pradesh to take the big cat back, but the government didn't comply with the order.

‘Sundari’ was translocated from Bhandhvgarh tiger reserve of Madhya Pradesh to Odisha in 2018 under inter-state tiger translocation programme. The big cat was released into the Satkosia sanctuary in Angul district. But, later it was lodged in an enclosure after the animal reportedly killed a man and a woman living inside the reserve in September, 2018. The incident had triggered massive violence when a group of locals set ablaze a forest beat office.