Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written a letter to his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik urging him to ensure proper care of tigress Sundari, currently kept in an enclosure at the Satkosia sanctuary, till its shifting to the Kanha Tiger Reserve in MP.
Expressing concern over the tigress’ health, Chouhan has requested Patnaik to ensure a favourable environment for the big cat till its shifting to Kanha.
Chouhan has said tiger safaris are being developed in Kanha Tiger Reserve, Bandhavgarh National Park and Pensh National Park in his State after permission from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Till completion of construction of the safaris, tigress Sundari would be temporarily put at the Ghorela Centre of Kanha Tiger Reserve. However, since another tiger is undergoing training at Ghorela, Sundari would be kept at this centre after release of the former, the letter said.
Hence, Chouhan requested Patnaik to ensure that the tigress is looked after properly in the Satkosia enclosure till that period.
Notably, Sundari along with tiger Mahavir was translocated to Sakosia from Madhya Pradesh in 2018 as part of India’s first inter-State tiger translocation project.
Four months after release into the wild, Mahavir was caught in a snare and died while Sundari turned hostile and killed two persons and a bullock at Baghamunda and Tainsi villages inside the Satkosia reserve area. Later, it was tranquilised in November 2018 and kept in the enclosure at Raiguda in the core area of the sanctuary.