The Odisha government has decided to conduct an annual estimation of tigers in the state to keep a tab on the tiger population and prepare its strategy accordingly, a senior forest department officer said on Tuesday.
Odisha now has 30 tigers and eight cubs, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced on Monday following the conclusion of a survey held between October 15, 2023 and February 10, 2024, by the state in its 47 forest divisions. The tiger population of the state was 20 in 2022.
“The survey report shows that tiger population rose in Odisha. The state government has already asked the forest department and the wildlife wing to conduct a yearly census and to keep a tab on the tiger population so that we can manage our strategies,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife), Susanta Nanda, told reporters. The next census report will be released next year, he said.
The forest department is going to procure more trap cameras to monitor movements of tigers at the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR).
Of the 30 tigers sighted, a total of 27 adult tigers - 14 females and 13 males - were camera-trapped in Odisha during the All Odisha Tiger Estimation exercise. The other three big cats were found in three other forest areas.
“Earlier, the tigers were moving within the core area in the STR. But now, the wild animals are roaming outside the core area. So, more trap cameras are needed to monitor their movement and behaviour even in the rainy season,” he said. In total, 13 adult tigers - seven females and six males - were found to be pseudo-melanistic in Similipal.
Pseudo-melanistic tigers appear black as the black stripes are far more prominent than other Royal Bengal Tigers'. No other wild habitat in the world has such pseudo-melanistic tigers.
