Is Similipal Going Satkosia Way?

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Is Similipal Tiger Reserve going Satkosia way? This apprehension has become evident among nature lovers and environmentalists as well in Odisha following alarming decrease in numbers of Royal Bengal Tigers(RBTs) in Similipal National Park over the years since its inception in 1980.

Media reports said Similipal National Park's number of tigers has come down to 28 from 101 in a decade. While the number of tigers was 101 in 2006, this has declined to 28 in 2019. The reports said that the national park in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha was once reputed for being a home to second largest number of tigers in India after Jim Corbett National Park.

The sorry state of affairs in Similipal has unnerved environmentalists in Odisha who have expressed fear that the national park might face the same fate as Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Angul district where the only tigress living in the sanctuary is missing for over two months triggering apprehensions that the animal has been poached or died of ailment. Although forest officials of Angul Wildlife Division said that the tigress was wounded, the cameras fitted at number of places inside the sanctuary could not have the footage since November 2021.

Sources said the Centre as well as the State have spent nearly Rs 70 cr in the past decade for tiger conservation in Similipal, but to no avail. The national park is spread over 2750 sq km and is recognized as a biosphere by UNESCO.

Environmentalists said this is high time that punitive measures be taken against forest officials responsible for the decline in number of tigers over the years. They must explain the factors that led to the alarming decline and what went wrong when both the Union and State governments are pumping in crores of rupees for conservation of the big cats in the national park.

Recently leopard hide were seized from Betnoti area in Mayurbhanj district. The animals were shot dead by poachers. Sources confided that an inter-state racket has been active in the region hunting animals on a spree.