Royal Bengal Tigers Stride Across 3 New Territories In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Pug marks of Royal Bengal tiger have been spotted at three new forest divisions of Odisha.

These were found at Hemagiri forest in Sundargarh, Debrigad Wildlife Century in Hirakud and Munigada in Rayagada district, informed State Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray on Saturday.

According to the sources, the presence of the tigers has been confirmed from pictures captured in cameras installed in the forests.

“There are around 60 Royal Bengal tigers in Odisha. However, they were not earlier sighted at these three places. Tiger being found in Muniguda of Rayagada district is definitely a good news,” said Routray.

The forest department has been instructed to take steps to ensure the safety of the tigers and maintain their habitation, he said.

“Our forests have huge potential and the population of Royal Bengal tigers will definitely increase in future,” he added.

The Centre and the state government had earlier crossed swords over the numbers of tigers in Odisha. Citing a 2016 report, the Centre had said that the state had 28 Royal Bengal tigers, while the Odisha government claimed to be home to 40 Royal Bengal tigers and 318 leopards.

The tiger census report of the state government had also rejected the report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which had put the number of big cats at 28.

Notably, the counting was done only in Shimilipal and Satkosia Tiger Reserves.