Interstate relocation: Is Odisha’s Satkosia ready to revive its tiger population?

The Forest department has been striving for nearly the last three years to revive the tiger population in Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) which covers parts of Nayagarh and Angul districts. India’s first interstate tiger relocation project failed in 2021 after tigress Sundari was taken back.

The tigress brought to Odisha from Kanha National Park of Madhya Pradesh in 2018 headed back home on March 23, 2021, after spending close to three years in Satkosia.

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At least 120 families were shifted from Kataranga village under the Jilinda range in 2022 and about 265 families from Tulaka village under the Purunakot range in 2023. Similarly, the voluntary shifting of 125 families from Bhrukundi village is still underway. Likewise, the residents of Gopalpur, Purunakot, Tikarpada, Chhotakei, and Majhipada villages in the core areas of STR forests have already applied for their displacement, Satkosia DFO Saroj Panda informed.

"Around 1,000 hectares of pastureland covered with grass or herbage has come up, which is suitable for grazing by livestock," the DFO added.

During a ground reality check, OTV found only two to three deer in the Pampasar range before reaching Asanbahal village which has lost its existence following displacement. However, a large number of the herbivores were later spotted in nearby grassland.

Worth mentioning, the tiger reserve had at least 15 big cats around 17 years ago.

Major setbacks in the interstate tiger relocation project, and why it failed, were the narrow prey base and human-animal conflict in the core areas, including an acute shortage of grassland.

STR authorities have been implementing the three different conditions set by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and preparations are underway in the core areas of Satkosia forests to revive the lost big cat population under the tiger recovery plan.