Tigress from Maharashtra brought to improve gene pool amid worries over ‘inbred’ tigers in Odisha’s Similipal reserve

Genetic analyses of other tiger populations in India and computer simulations suggest that the black tigers of Similipal may have come from a very small founding population and are inbred.

The Odisha Tiger Estimation conducted this year found that out of the total 24 adult tigers in Similipal, 13 are pseudo-melanistic. Also, 10 of the 24 are males and 14 are females.

In March, the state government had sought the approval of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to introduce Similipal’s black tigers to female tigers from locations in central India that match the landscape and climate of Similipal. NTCA officials then visited Similipal, after which the body gave its nod to the translocation project, sources said.

Hence, the state government decided to introduce tigers from geographically proximate, but high-heterozygosity (more genetic diversity) population areas.

“The 2.5-year-old tigress was captured at around 9 am on Saturday and brought in a special vehicle from Maharashtra. It will be released to a soft-enclosure of around two hectares in the core areas of Similipal tonight and will be kept on observation for around seven days,” Odisha Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Susanta Nanda, told The Indian Express on Sunday.

One more tigress from a tiger reserve in Maharashtra will be brought to STR soon as part of the project, officials said.

In 2018, the Odisha government had made a tiger translocation attempt with the aim of bringing the big cats back to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, which no longer has tigers. Accordingly, one male tiger, Mahavir, from Kanha and one 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 persons during its 30-month stay in Odisha.