Plunging Tiger Population A Big Worry For Odisha’s Satkosia Sanctuary

Angul: With the inter-state tiger translocation project suffering a setback in Odisha, apprehension looms large on the extinction of tiger population in the Satkosia sanctuary in Angul district.

A meeting held at the Forest Rangers College here on Wednesday has revealed that the lone and old surviving tigress in Satkosia has fallen ill due to multiple sores on her body.

Briefing the media soon after the meeting, Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF), Pradeep Raj Karat said efforts are on to catch the tigress for which a special cage has been made. The tigress will remain under treatment and will be released in the wild after complete recovery. The overall health of the feline is satisfactory, he added.

Karat further said that to ensure safety of the wildlife, there will be intensive patrolling in the newly developed forest area in Satkosia using a software application developed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

“Apart from this, for the enumeration of wildlife, more CCTV cameras will be installed in the adjoining areas. At present, 140 CCTV cameras are installed in several places in the core forest area of Satkosia while efforts are on to installed about 350 CCTV cameras in Angul, Athamallik and Dhenkanal forest divisions,” Karat said, adding that the 45-day data on the wildlife and security measures taken by the Forest Department in Sakosia, which are recorded in the CCTV cameras, will be handed over to the NTCA by December 2020.

It may be recalled that Satkosia was accorded the sanctuary status by the Centre on December 31, 2007. During 2014, there were 18 tigers in Satkosia, but due to rampant poaching, the sanctuary is now left with only one old tigress.