Odisha’s Satkosia Can Revive Tiger Population By Raising Prey Base, Says NTCA Report

Bhubaneswar: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has said that emphasis on increasing prey base and promoting voluntary village relocation can create favourable environment for resumption of the big cat relocation project in Odisha’s Satkosia reserve.

In a report on ‘Status of Tigers – Co-predators and prey in India – 2022’, the NTCA has underscored the need for improved conservation approach that could lead to re-launch of the tiger relocation project in Satkosia.

Spread over 963.87 km in Angul, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, and Boudh, the tiger reserve has a core area spanning 523.61 sq km and a buffer area of 440.26 sq km. The reserve, however, has been tiger less for over two years now after a lone tigress of the protected area went out of sight in 2022. Both the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) – 2022 and All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE) – 2023-24 exercises have failed to detect presence of the big cat in the Tiger Reserve.

An effort of 18,886 trap nights was invested during the 2022 head count exercise but not a single photograph of a tiger was obtained. In order to revive the big cat population at the tiger reserve, a pair of big cats Sundari and Mahavir was brought from Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh under the inter-state tiger reintroduction programme in 2018. However, the NTCA suspended the project as Mahavir died and Sundari left for Kanha after spending 28 months in Satkosia’s Raigoda enclosure.

In its report, the NTCA has stressed the need to improve future tiger reintroduction efforts in the reserve. It is crucial to implement enhanced conservation strategies including prey recovery to ensure an adequate food source for tigers, promoting voluntary village relocation to minimise human-wildlife conflicts, strengthening law enforcement to combat poaching and illegal activities and engaging local communities in conservation efforts, it said.

“Adopting these improved conservation approaches can help overcome the obstacles faced in the previous reintroduction project and may lead to a more favourable environment for successful tiger reintroduction in the tiger reserve,” the NTCA said, adding that these efforts are essential for the long-term survival and conservation of tigers in the reserve.

While senior officials said no decision has been taken so far on tiger reintroduction in Satkosia,  the Forest department has reportedly initiated measures to improve prey base, create more inviolate space and encourage community participation in conservation, sources said.