The Odisha government Friday said that it has taken up with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) the demand of local people for shifting a Royal Bengal tigress which allegedly killed a woman near Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Angul district on Wednesday.
The tigress was brought from Madhya Pradesh's Bandhavgarh National Park to Satkosia and released into wild on August 17.
"We have taken up the matter with the Wildlife Institute of India. We are also waiting for the post-mortem report of the woman. We will abide by the decision of WII. But so far, no decision has been taken to relocate the tigress," Odisha Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray told reporters.
The state government had brought a pair of RBTs, one male and a female from MP, to repopulate big cats at Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
The local people alleged that the tigress "Sundari" killed a woman and set on fire two Forest department offices and are demanding the shifting of the tigress.
The minister, however, said: "It is not yet confirmed that the tigress killed the woman. The injury marks found on the woman's body do not indicate that she was killed by tigress. How can you conclude that the tigress killed the woman?"
Stating that the torching of the Hatibari Forest Beat House and the Tikarpada Range office by the people of Hatibari village was not acceptable under the law, the minister said action would be taken against the accused persons.
Meanwhile, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) B K Patnaik said that the WII will decide whether to shift the tigress from Satkosia.
"One has to prove that the tigress killed the human being before taking any decision," he said adding that if the postmortem attribute the womans death to the tigress, the animal has to be kept in zoo as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
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