Much to the delight of wildlife lovers the tiger population in Odisha has increased to 30 adults and eight cubs as per the latest report of the All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE), 2023-2024 conducted by the Odisha Forest department. Odisha is a part of the Central Indian and Eastern Ghats Landscape and the forest cover accounts for 33.50 percent of the state’s total geographic area.In Odisha there is one national park, one proposed national park and nineteen wildlife sanctuaries. As per the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE), 2022 report, a minimum 17 tigers were camera trapped in Odisha, which was largely confined to Similipal Tiger Reserve. In order to keep a close track of its tiger population and develop appropriate management strategy, the All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE), 2023-2024 was conducted, which spanned across 47 forest divisions, aimed at much more intensive state-level tiger monitoring. A State-level field survey was conducted to look for tiger signs such as pugmarks, scrapes, scats, rakes, urine spray, vocalization and livestock depredation.
The sites where the direct and indirect signs of tigers were found with certainty, were intensively camera- trapped to arrive at the minimum number of unique adult tigers based on their distinctive stripe pattern. The Camera- trap image based identification of tigers is a scientifically accepted methodology and is also used in the All India Tiger Estimation exercises. A total of 27 unique adult tigers were camera trapped in Odisha during the AOTE exercise, comprising 14 females and 13 males. The evidence of another 3 adult tigers were also seen in the Similipal tiger reserve, which have not been camera trapped. The AOTE report said with 24 adult unique tigers, Similipal Tiger Reserve currently holds the largest share of the state’s tiger population in the state. Similipal also currently holds all the adult female tigers of the state. In total, 13 adult tigers (seven females and six males) were found to be pseudo- melanistic in Similipal. No other wild habitat in the world has pseudo-melanistic tigers. The report further said seven cubs which were of less than 1 year were also photo-captured in Similipal. Apart from Similipal, the Hirakud Wildlife Division and Paralakhemundi Territorial Forest Division, each holds one adult male tiger. Another adult male tiger was also found to utilize Greater Similipal tiger Landscape.
Similipal Tiger Reserve, which currently harbours 27 unique adult individuals, has also witnessed an increase from 16 tigers captured through Camera Traps in 2021-2022. This growth has resulted from strict management actions and scientific conservation practices. The images of eight unique tiger cubs during AOTE, 2023, indicate a recovering population in Similipal landscape. Similipal is the only place on earth to boast the pseudo- melanistic tigers. The presence of three unique adult male tigers camera-trapped in Hirakud Wildlife Division, Paralakhemundi Territorial Division, Keonjhar Territorial and Keonjhar Wildlife Division looks promising and provides hope for a better future for tigers in these habitats. Apart from these regions, there is excellent potential for tiger recovery in Satkosia Tiger Reserve and Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary,the report said.