locals gheraoed the district Collectorate here protesting the free movement of Royal Bengal Tigers (RBTs) brought from Madhya Pradesh at the Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
Thousands of forest dwellers from panchayats including Jagannathpur, Purunakote, Tikarpada, Matiasahi, Manikjodi and Balang staged the protest on Wednesday demanding their security from the big cats freely moving after translocation.
They warned the DFO and threatened the Forest Department that they would gun down the Royal Bengal Tigers if they are not kept in enclosure. The protesters accused the Forest Department of not informing them while releasing the tigers into the wild.
“The forest officials may release tigers, elephants or bears in the forest; we have no objection. But they should inform the villagers before releasing the wild animals in the area. The panicked villagers are forced to stay confined to their houses fearing the tigers,” a protester said.
He also accused a forest official of terming the locals as “anti-socials” and “Maoists”. “The official, who is thinking us as Maoists, might be a terrorist, or else he would never have said like this,” he added.
The locals termed the programme by the forest department at Satkosia as ‘anti-people’ activities.
“Without informing people residing in the area, the forest officials released two tigers in the forest. It is also heard that the tiger, which has been brought from the Kanha Tiger Reserve in MP, had killed several animals and humans there,” another protester said.
The villagers alleged that their livelihoods are affected due to the wild tigers as it is not safe to leave their domestic animals like cows and goats outside for grazing.
Reports said that the protestors are all set to approach the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) demanding their safety and security in the forest out of tiger scare. With the protest by locals, the future of the big cats which are relocated from Madhya Pradesh to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) in Angul district, is under threat. Two tigers including a tigress have been shifted to the STR from Madhya Pradesh in June as part of inter-State tiger relocation exercise to increase tiger population at the STR. While the tiger named ‘Mahabir’ was brought from the Kanha Tiger Reserve on June 21, the Royal Bengal Tigress called ‘Sundri’ was relocated to the STR from the Bandhavgarh National Park, aslo in MP on June 28