Odisha to get 5 Royal Bengal tigers

Bhubaneswar: To increase big cat population in Odisha, forest officials have begun the process of relocating five Royal Bengal tigers from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh by the end of September.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF)-Wildlife, Susanta Nanda, said three of these tigers will be released into Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Sambalpur and the remaining two will be introduced into Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj.

“On our request, both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have given their consent for relocation of their tigers to Odisha. They have also identified the tigers from core areas of their forests,” Nanda told mediapersons on Wednesday. Two teams of Odisha forest officials will visit the two States soon to see the tigers, he said.

In its latest tiger estimation conducted for the first time during 2023-24 in 47 forest divisions of Odisha, 30 tigers and eight cubs were found.