Angul: Kumki (trained) elephant duo Rajkumar and Mahendra, planned to be engaged to guard Royal Bengal tigress ‘Sundari’ arrived in the Satkosia Reserve Forest area in the district late last night.
The elephant duo were brought in a special vehicle at around 2 am in the night and were lodged at the Purunakote area of the reserve forest for the time being, said forest department sources.
Notably, yesterday PCCF (Wildlife), Sandip Tripathy made it clear to media that, the roadblock on the way of ‘Kumki’ elephants’ shifting from Similipal had been cleared after a talk with villagers objecting the relocation in the area. However, he had also maintained it that a decision on the release of ‘Sundari’ from the enclosure is yet to be taken.
Sundari was brought from Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve to Satkosia wildlife sanctuary on June 28 to increase tiger population in the state later turned into man eater. Residents from the villages located near Satkosia demanded shifting of the tigress after it attacked two locals including a woman from Tainsi village at a later stage. The tiger also attacked a journalist who was trying to collect news in Satkosia area during the same period.
Kalinga AI