Officials of the South division of the tiger project take care and precaution of the 18 sambhars lodged in the sambhar soft release centre at Jora Sakhuwa under Bareysarn range of this division amidst all round fear of the Covid 19.

Sources said the three ranges of this tiger project Garu East and Garu West and Bareysarn have seen reverse migration of a large number of workers mostly from South India here and thus the 3 ranges are highly fragile from health point of view of men and cattle both. 

Mukesh Kumar an IFS officer and Deputy Director South division of tiger reserve Palamu said, “The sambhar soft release centre is sanitised properly and inmates are well taken care of from their feed to their drinking water.”

Sources  said when there were episodes of death of three bison in the Betla National Park in the North division of this tiger reserve the health care of the inmates of this soft centre was further heightened.

A noted veterinary doctor Chandon Deb had even treated a sambhar here in this centre which had bouts of respiratory distress.

Mukesh Kumar said the ailing sambhar was treated with homeopathic medicines too along with other doses of cattle medicines.

This sambhar soft release centre spread over in 15 hectares of land of the tiger reserve has now a highly vulnerable species four horned antelope and this family of three has a fawn too which also keeps centre’s three trackers more vigilant & alert.

This soft centre has its quota of mishaps too when one sambhar here was bitten by deadly russel viper only to die a miserable death.

Mukesh Kumar said the privacy of the sambhars here is disturbed by elephants which try to invade it but with our EPT ( elephant proof trench) around this centre the jumbos fail to achieve their mission.

He said last year one leopard made its entry which it did by first climbing a tree close to this centre and from there it made a big leap forward in this centre only to make a hasty retreat then without pouncing upon or mauling any sambhar.

Mukesh Kumar said such hazards are common in any wild life habitation and since here the sambhars are brought up in captivity the dangers are bound to come.

Quoting one of his ground staff Kumar said our people had seen one sambhar standing outside the centre which makes us understand this South division has sambhars in wild too besides these 18 in captivity.

Sambhars fight among themselves and there had been one casualty of it also reported here in this soft release centre added Kumar.

He said the fight is for supremacy and this hunger for supremacy is among the male sambhar.

Sources said the sambhar soft release centre has been set up to develop a good and secured prey base for the carnivores here and the sambhars here were translocated from Birsa Zoo Ranchi.