Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha may be heading the Sariska way following dwindling tiger signs and absence of breeding for the past two years. Sariska had lost all its tigers in 2005.
While last official — 2010 tiger census — figures of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) indicate the presence of eight striped cats in STR, sources said there may be hardly be one or two actually left. “Unless urgent measures are taken, there would be none left in the near future,” a source warned.
The Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) has also taken strong note of the situation. “There has been no proper planning and management of the reserve since it was notified in 2007,” a report stated. It added that the reserve, to this day, has not even had a full-time field director, which is mandatory according to NTCA guidelines.
Pandav Behera, Regional Chief Conservation of Forest (RCCF) Angul circle, holding additional charge as STR field director, admitted no cubs have been seen during the past two years. One reason, according to him, for tigers not breeding could be a skewed sex ratio. “But we are yet to ascertain the number of male and female tigers in the reserve,” he added.
Nonetheless, Behera claimed to be carrying out regular monitoring of tigers using camera traps and other scientific methods. He maintained that though this was a low-density tiger reserve, it had a good prey base.
Behera also pointed out that STR terrain is hilly. “For tigers to thrive, it is necessary to have grasslands, which are being developed. The team is also working to prevent forest fires, which is common in summers.”
Expressing shock over the state of affairs, National Board For Wildlife member Prerna Singh Bindra said, “We had already warned them about the almost negligible tiger signs, poor protection and monitoring measures, as well as other management issues,” as part of the NTCA Management Effectiveness Evaluation Committee in 2010-11.
“It appears the situation has taken a turn for the worse. Such negligence cannot be afforded. Corrective measures are required to be taken urgently before it’s too late,” she added.
According to experts, the need of the hour is to take up an intensive exercise to establish current tiger population and sex ratio through photographic capture-recapture, scat DNA analysis or both. There must be a daily tiger monitoring regime and
express action needs to be taken to relocate the village of Raigoda, amongst others, from
within the park.
They pointed out that Satkosia is virtually the only hope for tigers in the State, outside of Similipal. Unlike Sariska or Panna, Satkosia is part of a big cat landscape of over 13,500 sq km, having excellent contiguity with other tiger terrains of the State and further into the Central Indian Tiger landscape.
The reserve is also the heart of the densest elephant population in eastern/central India. It is the last vestige of the riparian forests of Mahanadi and has unparalleled potential for revival as a large mammal stronghold.