Why Odisha wants to introduce Similipal’s black tigers to female big cats from central India

Why Similipal’s tigers are unique

The Similipal Tiger Reserve sprawls across 2,750 square km in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district. It is Asia’s second largest biosphere, and the country’s only wild habitat for melanistic royal Bengal tigers. The tigers of Similipal belong to a unique lineage with higher-than-normal levels of melanin, which gives them black-and-yellow-interspersed stripes on their coats. These tigers are not entirely black, and are therefore more accurately described as pseudo-melanistic.

Why bring in more females

Genetic analyses of other tiger populations in India and computer simulations suggest that the Similipal black tigers may have arisen from a very small founding population of tigers, and are inbred. These cats live isolated from other tigers, because of which they breed among themselves.

The Odisha Tiger Estimation conducted recently found that out of the total 24 adult tigers in Similipal, 13 are pseudo-melanistic. Of the 24, 10 are males while 14 are females. The plan to introduce more female tigers is aimed at improving the gene pool.

Why bring them from central India

Since the central Indian landscape and climate match the landscape and climate of Similipal, the Odisha government wants to get female tigers from states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Also, some tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh face the problem of overcrowding, leading to insufficient prey and territorial disputes.

Susanta Nanda said the conservation intervention would be to introduce tigers from geographically proximate but high heterozygosity (more genetic diversity) population areas.

Process for relocation

NTCA’s nod is mandatory for tiger relocation in India. Based on the request of the state government, the NTCA technical committee is expected to visit Similipal soon to study its landscape, climate, whether it has the required prey base and other aspects before giving its go-ahead.

Earlier attempts

To enhance the tiger population in Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve, which was left with zero tigers, the Odisha government had made an attempt at relocation in 2018. One male tiger (Mahavir) from Kanha and female (Sundari) from Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh had been translocated to Satkosia. While the male tiger died after falling into a trap laid by poachers, the female was sent back to its original habitat after it allegedly killed two people during its 30-month stay in Odisha.