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Orang likely to become fourth tiger reserve in Assam


The Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, about 150 km from here, is likely to become the fourth tiger reserve in the state, with the state forest department planning to submit a proposal to the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) soon.The proposal will be submitted following National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)'s recommendation for notifying Orang as a tiger reserve. 

The existing tiger reserves in the state are Kaziranga, Manas and Nameri.The Mangaldoi Wildlife Division has already submitted the proposal to principal chief conservator of forests (Wildlife) R P Agarwal. "We will send this proposal to the MoEFCC once we get the clearance from the state government. 

Hopefully, we will be able to submit the proposal this month," said Agarwal.The 79.28 sqkm park has 25.23 tigers per 100 square km, which is considered to be high big cat density. The park, located on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra, also has 100 rhinos as per the 2012 estimate, besides other animals.

Orang is connected with Kaziranga on the southern banks of the Brahmaputra by numerous sand islands. The NTCA's report titled 'Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India' in 2010 underscored the fact that tiger population in Kaziranga is contiguous with Orang, connected through the sand islands of the Brahmaputra.

The NTCA has also pointed out that Kaziranga and Orang taken together will have about 125 tigers.According to the proposal submitted to PCCF by Mangaldoi divisional officer Sushil Kumar Daila, once the protected area is notified as a tiger reserve, the stretch of the Brahmaputra between Orang and Kaziranga, along with Laokhowa and Burhachapori wildlife sanctuaries, can effectively be effectively secured as a buffer zone. 

Daila said the total area of the proposed Orang Tiger Reserve will be 790.17 square km, including 44.06 square km of Burhachapori and 70.10 square km of Laokhowa wildlife sanctuaries and 596.73 sq km stretch of the Brahmaputra serving as a tiger corridor.

"Once Orang is declared as a tiger reserve, its boundaries will be secured which will reduce human-tiger conflict. The biggest threat to tigers of Orang is retaliatory killings by villagers on the fringes of the park. In the last 10 years, at least 13 tigers were poisoned to death by villagers," said Daila.



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