Sources from Odisha forest department said that the state's Home department will decide if crime branch will investigate the matter.
Odisha's Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) has recommended that the crime branch investigate the mauling of a tribal woman by a tigress inside Satkosia Tiger Reserve. The recommendation was made to the state's forest and environment department, sources said. A DSP-level officer is already probing the death of the woman.
Sources from Odisha forest department said that the state's Home department will decide if crime branch will investigate the matter.
The woman, Kailashi Garnayak, was found dead Wednesday last week in the Tikarpara range of the reserve and locals alleged that she was killed by Sundari, a 27-month-old tigress, who was translocated from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, last month. A post-mortem report has revealed that she was fatally attacked by a carnivorous animal but locals have dismissed this conclusion.
Sources said that according to the CWW, the movement of the tigress was being monitored round the clock with the aid of a radio collar. On the basis of the monitoring, it was stated that 76 per cent of the tigress' movements were in forest areas and 26 per cent were in the vicinity of 100 m from the buffer to the villages inside Satkosia reserve. Around 20 people from the Satkosia wildlife division and Wildlife Institute of India are keeping track of Sundari's movements.
Sundari's movements have largely been in and around Hatidhari reserve forest in the Athmallik forest division, sources said, where she is preying on cattle. The wildlife warden also stated that if the tigress continues to transgress into habitations, Wildlife Institute of India scientist K Ramesh has proposed tranquilising her and then releasing her back into the core area where the male tiger from Kanha was released after he was translocated, sources said. This is to be done only after due consultations with the NTCA.
Sources added that in light of the arson and violence that followed the death of Garnayak, the CWW has suggested a confidence-building measures among villagers in Satkosia reserve. Locals had set forest beat offices ablaze and trashed foresters after the alleged mauling of Garnayak.
THE INCIDENT
- The woman, Kailashi Garnayak, was found dead Wednesday last week in the Tikarpara range of the reserve and locals alleged that she was killed by Sundari, a 27-month-old tigress, who was translocated from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, last month
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