BHUBANESWAR: In a scathing indictment of Odisha Forest Department’s inept handling of tiger repopulation project at Satkosia Tiger Reserve, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has ordered restoration of tigress Sundari back to Madhya Pradesh besides grounding the relocation project, country’s first inter-state tiger translocation programme, for an indefinite period.
In a letter to the Chief Secretary expressing displeasure over mismanagement of the project, the apex body on tiger conservation slammed the shoddy protection practices as well as lack of monitoring that led to death of a male tiger as the SOP was not followed properly.Quoting the report submitted by an assessment committee headed by former Field Director Kanha Tiger Reserve and NTCA member, Deputy Inspector General of NTCA Surender Mehra said the both the tigers were not monitored and managed as per SOP and protocol of the authority.
“Even repeated communications from NTCA were not taken seriously by the State Forest department. The tigress brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve was captured without following due procedure laid down by the authority and relevant provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It has been kept in a small enclosure for more than one year without taking steps to re-wild,” the letter stated.
The assessment report indicated that pre-requisite conditions like prey augmentation, creation of inviolate space, eco-development, capacity building of staff and enhancement of protection for reintroduction of tigers in Satkosia could not be achieved despite sufficient fund availability and technical support to tiger reserve.It even stated that funds provided under CSS-Project Tiger were diverted from specified items/activities without authorisation for deviation from the Centre. Even after substantial fund release, the project has not shown any significant output, the report observed.
Making it clear that tigress Sundari can not be allowed to be kept in the enclosure, Mehra said it would be withdrawn and brought to Ghorela centre at Kanha with immediate effect for re-wilding and subsequent release to suitable habitat.“It has been decided that the tiger translocation programme will remain suspended till the ground situation improves as per NTCA guidelines and subsequent feasibility study,” he added.
The project on ‘Augmentation and Recovery of Tiger Population in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, Odisha’ was approved by the Technical Committee of NTCA on November 22, 2017. Subsequently, permission to capture two tigers from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve was accorded and the big cats were translocated with technical support from Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India. While a male tiger ‘Mahavir’ was translocated on July 6, Sundari was released in Satkosia tiger reserve on August 17 last year.
Mahavir was found dead within rationalised boundary of Satkosia under unnatural circumstances on November 14, 2018. It was caught in a snare. The preliminary investigation indicated that the death of the tiger was due to poaching.