Tiger Population Doubles In Similipal, Total Number Drops To 20 In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The estimated tiger population in Odisha has sharply dropped to 20 from 28 in 2018, according to the Tiger Estimation Report released by the Union government.

However, the estimated number of tigers in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district of the state has doubled. The number of the big cats in STR increased to 16 from the 8 counted in 2018.

The Tiger Estimation Report was released by the Union government on the occasion of the Global Tiger Day at Corbett Tiger Reserve on Saturday.

The tiger count in Odisha stood at 28 as per the estimation conducted in 2018 as well as 2014 jointly by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

It may be noted here that the tiger population in Odisha has been continuously since 2006 when the state reportedly had 45 big cats. The number, however, came down to 32 in 2010 and it further dropped to 28 in 2014.

While the total number of big cats in the state has now dropped sharply to 20, STR gives a new ray of hope with the increased tally in the reserve forest.

Notably, the Odisha government is likely to kick start the much awaited tiger census from October, 2023. The counting will be done in two phases, forest officials said.

The counting will be conducted through transect analysis and camera traps. In transect analysis, the tigers will be counted on the basis of footprints, scratch marks.

Similarly, the movement of the animal will be captured through CCTV camera traps. The counting process will be continued for about one and a half months.

The estimation report shows that the tiger population in the country has increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,167 in 2022. Madhya Pradesh has 785 tigers, which is the highest in India, followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (544).

Similarly, Corbett Tiger Reserve has maximum of 260 tigers, followed by Bandipur (150), Nagarhole (141), Bandhavgarh and Dudhwa (135 each),  Mudumalai (114), Kanha (105), Kaziranga (104), Sundarbans (100), Toaboda (97), Sathyamangalam (85) and Pench (77).