Sambalpur: A group of tourists spotted an endangered Indian dhole (wild dog) during a jungle safari in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Bargarh on Saturday afternoon.
According to Debrigarh officials, some tourists spotted the animal around 3.45 pm near the deer zone and took photographs and shared those with them.
Kamalakanta Majhi, a tourist from Sundargarh, recorded a video of the wild dog when it was just about 20 metres away. “I have been here several times, but had never seen a wild dog before. I checked online and later confirmed with the safari guide that it was indeed a wild dog,” he told the media.
This is the first time that a wild dog, whose population is decreasing in the wild because of habitat fragmentation, has been spotted by tourists in the state.
Anshu Pragyan Das, Divisional Forest Officer of Hirakud Wildlife Division, said that camera traps installed in Debrigarh had captured a pair of wild dogs in October last year after a gap of seven years. The presence of these Schedule-2 species has also been recorded in Kuldiha Sanctuary of Balasore and Similipal.
The sighting of Dhole is being seen as a sign of a healthy prey base and availability of abundant food and water during the monsoon is said to have led the wild dogs to explore new areas within the forest, including the safari zone. Debrigarh is home to herbivores like Indian gaur, sambar, deer, wild boar, cheetal and chowsingha.
