Maha Tigress Released Into Soft Enclosure In Similipal’s Core Area, It Has Been Named… [Watch]

Baripada: The tigress from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra was released into a soft enclosure in the core area of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district at 9.25 am on Sunday.

It had arrived here the previous evening after a nearly 36-hour journey covering over 1,000 km under a translocation project to to curb inbreeding and improve the gene pool of tigers inside the reserve, which is the only wild habitat for melanistic royal Bengal tigers.

“The 2.5-year-old tigress was released into the soft-enclosure of around two hectares this morning. It has been named Jamuna. She will be kept there on for around seven days before being released into the tiger reserve,” Odisha Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Susanta Nanda told a local channel.

He said the main objective is to enhance genetic diversity of the tiger population in STR, where 50% are melanistic due to inbreeding. “It is said that this can lead to inbreeding depression. The main purpose is supplementation through introduction of tigers from geographically similar, but high-heterozygosity (more genetic diversity) population areas,” he said.

Nanda added that Similipal can house 60+ tigers.

The Odisha Tiger Estimation conducted this year found 24 adult tigers ( 24 males and 14 females) in Similipal of which 13 are pseudo-melanistic.

This big cat relocation project assumes significance since a similar programme between Odisha and Madhya Pradesh was suspended in 2019 after it ran into trouble amid severe protests by villagers living on the fringes of Satkosia Tiger Reserve, where one male tiger Mahavir and a tigress Sundari from Kanha Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh respectively were introduced in 2018. While Mahavir was later found dead, Sundari was sent back to its original habitat in 2021 after it allegedly killed two persons.

In March, the state government against sought the approval of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which gave its nod to the translocation project after visiting Similipal.

Besides Jamuna, one more tigress from a tiger reserve in Maharashtra will be brought to STR soon as part of the project.

The Forest department has also received the go-ahead from the NTCA to introduce three more tigers (two male and a female), in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The suspended tiger relocation programme in Satkosia can also be revived on compliance to certain conditions, including voluntary relocation of villages, creation of more inviolate space and enhanced protection measures.