The Tiger Trail

Tiger conservation in Odisha has been an unmitigated disaster since the last two decades! It is common knowledge that tigers are disappearing in the state despite vast forest coverage and comparably a low human population.

The Tiger Trail

Around 14 years ago, a press conference was hurriedly convened by the Odisha Forest department at posh Bhubaneswar hotel to explain the “misconception” that Odisha has lost a huge number of tigers in Simlipal Tiger Reserve. The camera trap based census in Simlipal conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India had blown off what was one of the worst kept secrets of Odisha.

Until 2006, the department had reported 192 tigers in Odisha including Simlipal which held a minimum of 101 tigers. However, the 2007 census blew off the lid of the worst kept secret. It revealed 30 tigers only, a shocking decline of 71 tigers in one year! Ofcourse not a single media person believed the state government’s incredulous claims.