BHUBANESWAR:MB-2, Kanha National Park’s gift to Satkosia Tiger Reserve, shrugged off all signs of relocation and travel stress and appeared to have settled down in the specially-designed enclosure near Raigoda on Friday.
The Satkosia TR authorities, assisted by two vets from Kanha NP and scientists of Wildlife Institute of India (WII), kept a close watch on the three-year-old during the first 24 hours of its arrival.On Thursday night, a wild boar was released into the enclosure as live bait and MB-2 showed all signs of a predator and hunted the prey. “It fed on the boar at about 2.30 am and also in the morning. It took a bath in the pool created inside the enclosure and even had rest. It is perfectly alright,” Chief Wildlife Warden Sandeep Tripathi said. Its movement pattern was monitored and found to be normal.
The Wildlife Wing of the State Government has documented the entire relocation process from Kanha to Satkosia. Tripathi said the project being a first in Indian conservation history, it has been recorded.As of now, MB-2, fitted with both GPS and a satellite trackers, is under surveillance in the enclosure. The radio collar, customised and imported by WII, will help tracking of the cat in the dense canopy of Satkosia once it is released.
“We have constituted two groups with three members each to keep a watch on the tiger. The surveillance will continue,” said Sudarshan Panda, Field Director of Satkosia who helmed the relocation project.
Next step to find a mate
The next task would be its release to the wild and the Wildlife Wing is in a hurry despite MB-2 showing normal behaviour. “We want to give it time,” Chief Wildlife Warden Sandeep Tripathi said. A more logical step will be to wait for a female to be brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and pair it with the three-year-old male in the enclosure. That, experts say, would give the pair enough time together and gauge their behaviour. It would also ensure that MB-2 does not go far in search of a partner. Another option being weighed involves an adult tigress which has been captured by the camera traps in Satkosia. “Of the two tigers captured during the census, one is a female in the age group of six to eight while the other is old. The Kanha tiger could find the younger one to pair with it,” Tripathi told this paper.