TV
Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district will remain closed for visitors from July 1 because of monsoon until further orders, an official source said on Sunday.
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In a notification, STR field director Prakash Chand Gogineni stated that the exact date for reopening of the national park would be announced later and published in newspapers.
However, the ecotourism complex at Jamuani, Gurgudia, Kumari, Barehipani and Ramatirtha will remain open for tourists, the STR field director clarified.
“In all, at least 38,483 tourists, including 12 foreigners, visited Similipal in the FY 2024-25, generating revenue of around Rs 4.26 crore. While Rs 1.22 crore was earned from jungle safaris, Rs 2.75 crore was collected from nature camps inside the national park and Rs 29 lakh from entry permits,” field director Gogineni expressed.
Worth mentioning, spread over nearly 2,750 square kilometres, the tiger reserve has a variety of plant species and 96 types of orchids. It is also home to 55 species of mammals, 361 varieties of birds and 30 reptile categories.
Besides the rare melanistic tigers, Royal Bengal Tigers, leopards, Asian elephants, sambar, barking deer, gaur, jungle cat, wild boar, four-horned antelope and giant squirrels are also found in Similipal National Park.
After decades of waiting, Similipal was finally declared a national park on April 24, with the Odisha government issuing an official notification in this regard.
Covering 845.70 square kilometres across 11 forest ranges in the Similipal South and North divisions, it becomes the second area in the State to receive national park status, following Bhitarkanika.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who had made the announcement, said that Similipal is now the 107th national park in India. It is the largest national park in Odisha by area.
