Odisha reported 55 tiger deaths in last 10 years: Minister

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia on Tuesday told the Assembly that as many as 55 tigers died in the State during the last 10 years.

The deaths were reported between 2014-15 and 2023-24 fiscals, he said.In a written reply to a query by BJP legislator Tankadhar Tripathy, the minister said 48 leopards and seven tigers died due to various reasons, including poaching, accidents and natural deaths in the last 10 years.

During the period, two Royal Bengal Tigers died of poaching, while three were killed in various accidents like drowning, slipping from mountains and infighting. One tiger died of natural causes. The reason behind the death of another tiger is unknown, he said.

During the last 10 financial years, 21 leopards died due to poaching, four due to electrocution, two in train accidents, three in road accidents, five due to diseases and four naturally, the minister said in his statement.Similarly, three leopards were killed in various types of accidents like drowning, slipping from mountains and infighting among the wild animals, while six leopards died of unknown reasons, he said.

The State government brought two Royal Bengal Tigers (a male and a female) from Madhya Pradesh to Odisha in the past decade. No tiger has been translocated to any other forests outside the State during the period, he said.

Ram Singkhuntia said a total of two Royal Bengal Tigers (RBTs) died inSimilipal Tiger Reserve (south) during the years 2023-24, while one died in 2017-18.Two other RBTs, one in Bargarh and the other in Satkosia, died during the 2018-19 fiscal.

Similarly, a Royal Bengal Tiger died in Bolangir forest division during the financial year 2016-17 and another such death was reported in 2022-23 in the Keonjhar Wildlife Division, he said.The Forest Minister also said there were 173 RBTs in Odisha, as per estimation done through the pugmark method in 2002.

For the first time, the all-India tiger estimation using camera traps technique was done in 2006, in which 45 tigers were found in Odisha. As the camera trap technique is far different from the pugmark method, no comparison can be drawn between the estimations, he said.

As per the State-level tiger estimation conducted in 2024, a total of 27 tigers were found in Odisha, of which 24 tigers were found in Similipal Tiger Reserve, while Keonjhar territorial and Keonjhar wildlife, Paralakhemundi, and Hirakud Wildlife have one tiger each.Besides, eight tiger cubs in Similipal Tiger Reserve were also counted during the census, he said.

In another written statement to the House, the Forest Minister said 760 elephant deaths were reported in Odisha during 2013-14 and 2023-24, of which 41 elephants were killed by poachers.

During the last 11 years, 1,145 people were also killed in elephant attacks, he added.