3 min readBhubaneswarMar 5, 2024 11:21 AM IST
First published on: Mar 4, 2024 at 11:47 AM IST
The Odisha government has sought the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) nod to introduce some female tigers to the Similipal Tiger Reserve. To improve the tigers’ gene pool and improve the sex ratio, Odisha wants to bring in female big cats from the Central Indian landscape, which includes areas like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
Susanta Nanda, Odisha’s principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), has written in this regard to the NTCA member secretary.
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.
The tigers of Similipal belong to a unique lineage with higher-than-normal levels of melanin. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) 
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