BHUBANESWAR: A 3-year-old male Royal Bengal Tiger from Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh has been successfully translocated to Satkosia Tiger Reserve on Thursday. In the conservation history of India this is for the first time any tiger is being translocated from Kanha tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh to another state for reintroduction, forest officials said.“The tiger is safe, healthy and moving,” said principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), Sandip Tripathy.The transportation of the tiger was done through a specialized vehicle from Madhya Pradesh accompanied by two veterinary doctors from Madhya Pradesh along with their team.The tiger was tranquilised in Kanha National Park in the Wednesday forenoon and then after revival started his journey to Odisha . The vehicle reached Satkosia at around 4.30pm and released in the wild at around 5.30pm.The soft release of the tiger was done in an enclosure covering an area of two square acres for few days. The forest officials will monitor the physical and psychological status of the animal before it is released in the wild. Radio collar has been fitted on the tiger to monitor its movement and adaptability in the new location. The enclosure has been covered with CCTV surveillance.“In the conservation history of India, this is the first time that a tiger from any Tiger Reserve has been sent to another State for supplementation and recovery of tiger population. The tiger translocation from Madhya Pradesh to Satkosia will definitely fulfill the objectives of this ambitious project and will certainly help to establish viable tiger population in Satkosia,” said Tripathy.In October, 2017 Odisha government proposed the Madhya Pradesh government to translocate tigers to increase their population in Odisha. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority , and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun including forest departments of both the states have prepared a special project for the reintroduction of tigers into the Satkosia Tiger Reserve. As part of the special project three pairs of tigers from Madhya Pradesh will be translocated to Satkosia to increase the tiger population in the state. Presently there is one tiger in Satkosia.Wildlife expert and former forest department officer Lala A K Singh said, “The reasons for which the population of tigers reduced in Satkosia must be kept in mind and the mistake must not be repeated this time.”Satkosia Tiger reserve is spread over an area of about 9.63 sq km, consists of parts of Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary, Mahanadi Wildlife Division and Bainsipalli Sanctuary. About 78 families, with a population of 200 people had vacated their village for these big cats.

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