Her behaviour has changed, tigress Sundari may not be a free bird again
During her rewilding programme in Kanha, she had torn apart two mannequins put inside her enclosure, said forest department officials.
4 min read
Sundari is the second big cat where efforts to rewild failed. (Express photo)Tigress Sundari who once roamed freely in the wilderness of Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve had been reduced to a captive having too much of human imprints and unfit for rewilding since being moved to Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve where she spent over a year-and-a-half in an enclosure as the country’s first inter-state tiger relocation programme failed.
Sundari was shifted from Odisha to a seven-hectare enclosure in Kanha Tiger Reserve on March 24, 2021, and when the efforts didn’t yield results, the tigress has been moved to a rescue centre at Bhopal’s Van Vihar, which is likely to be her permanent home. She reached Van Vihar on July 14 where she has been quarantined for 21 days in a two-room enclosure with crawl area.
“Usually, animals take months to get familiar with their new surroundings and keep to themselves during that period or act aggressive when zookeepers come close. But Sundari is not only roaming in her cage but also entered the crawl area which is pleasantly surprising,” said Ashok Kumar Jain, Assistant Director at Van Vihar.
Tigress Sundari reached Van Vihar on July 14 where she has been quarantined for 21 days in a two-room enclosure with crawl area. (Express photo)
Van Vihar Director HC Gupta said it was unlikely that she will be put in a zoo. “We usually keep animals born in zoo on display. It’s unlikely that Sundari will be put on display. We will observe her for six-seven months and then see if she is ready for breeding,” he said.
But even as she gets familiar with her new environment, Sundari will never be able to roam freely in the wild, point out officials from Kanha Tiger Reserve. Sundari is the second big cat where efforts to rewild failed.
Sundari’s changed behaviour is the combined result of her being kept in an enclosure and getting food without hunting. (Express photo)
As a part of the rewilding programme, tigers kept in the enclosure are devoid of human interaction and given live prey which they have to hunt. “Sundari’s hunting skills are intact, in fact we observed that she killed 3-4 spotted deers in one go while one deer is sufficient for a tiger for 2-3 days. She would also remain alert to any human movement near the cage and come very close in case a vehicle passed or a zookeeper came close, while wild animals have an instinct to move away from humans,” said SK Singh, Field Director of Kanha Tiger Reserve.
According to Senior Wildlife Veterinary Surgeon Dr Sandeep Agarwal, who was part of the inter-state translocation project since 2018, Sundari’s changed behaviour was the combined result of her being kept in an enclosure and getting food without hunting.
During her rewilding programme in Kanha, she had torn apart two mannequins put inside her enclosure, said forest department officials.
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