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Will Tigers Burn Bright Again In Satkosia?
CITY LIGHTS: LIFESTYLE

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Monalisa Patsani 29 Jul 2018

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Odisha made a splash recently when it became the first state in the country to undertake an inter-state tiger translocation with Madhya Pradesh as part of its tiger supplementation plan for Satkosia. As part of the programme, Madhya Pradesh agreed to send in three pairs of tigers to Satkosia and the first pair has already been shifted. One of them, the male, has already been released into the wild.

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The highly-publicised programme was the outcome of a long-drawn planning by the Forest and Environment Department of the State Government after Satkosia threatened to become a tiger-less reserve with just two large cats left, one of them well beyond its breeding age. It needed repopulation which was possible only through reintroduction of tigers.

Odisha, with two notified tiger reserves, is considered a low-density tiger habitat in the country despite the fact that Similipal was established in 1973 when Project Tiger came into being. Satkosia came much later. Now 40-odd years later, tiger population in Odisha is considerably low compared to other states.

According to the 2004 census, as many as 192 tigers were estimated in the State whereas in 2016, the total tiger count was pegged at 40 by both camera trap and pugmark methods. Effectively, it means the State lost in 14 years.

During this period, Similipal had around 94 tigers which now stood at 26 in 2016. Similarly, Satkosia Tiger Reserve had around 11 tigers in 2004 where as by 2016, it was left with only two old female tigers. Sunabedawhich is yet to be notified as a Tiger Reserve though it has received in-principle consent from the Ministry of Environment and Forests since ten years now, had nine tigers in 2004 but census was not possible in 2014 because of Maoist threat.Tigers from other wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forest areas of the state have in the meantime practically vanished. They were widespread across the state even in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Though much water has flown under the bridge between 2004 and 2018 in terms of tiger enumeration, one thing is clear – tiger population in Odisha has not given any signs of encouragement. And Satkosia is a grim reminder because it reported a rapid loss of tiger population, thanks to declining protection measures, rampant poaching, degradation of habitat and increasing human pressure in the habitat.

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MB2 at Kanha Tiger Reserve

This alarming drop in tiger population prompted the State Government to think of a tiger re-introduction plan in Satkosia. It was a bold move given the history of wildlife conservation strategy in the state but it was worth the risk.

Last year, the Wildlife Wing of Forest and Environment Department scouted for tigers and zeroed in on Madhya Pradesh, a state known for its strong tiger conservation practices and flourishing tiger tourism. After a series of dialogues, the MP Government agreed to provide three pairs of tigers for supplementation in Satkosia. A first of its kind, the translocation was directly monitored by the National Tiger Conservation Authority while Wildlife Institute of India was roped in by the State Government for providing expert assistance.

On June 21, with the transfer of MB2, a three -year-old male tiger from Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha made conservation history by undertaking the first ever inter-state tiger translocation. The male tiger was kept in a specially erected enclosure and later released into the forests of Satkosia. Within a week, a 27-month-old tigress named Sundri was moved to Satkosia from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. Around 30 officials from Satkosia and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves successfully carried out the second phase of the relocation project.

Field Director of Kanha Tiger Reserve Sanjay Shukla recounted how the relocation was made possible. “This was the first time a tiger from the wild was translocated from one state to another. After due permission from the State Government, Government of India and NTCA, we selected a tiger for translocation in accordance with the SOP of NTCA which says that the animal should be about three years of age and a transient one who has not made its territory yet. We also wanted to give a tiger which possessed superior traits for good genes of the offsprings. MB2 was one of the best specimens of Kanha," informed Shukla.

A mock drill was conducted by the officials of Kanha Tiger Reserve before the capture of the animal. “The entire process was executed without any stress to the animal. The capture, radio-frequency collaring and translocation were done by a team of two of our most experienced vets and they accompanied the tiger till he was safely released into the enclosure in Satkosia," he said.

FRESH CHALLENGE

The successful relocation of two tigers has brought hope for forest officials, wildlife experts and conservationists for an increase in the tiger population in Satkosia. However, there is a glitch. Recently, a group of villagers residing within and near the tiger reserve surrounded the district collectorate office in Angul and threatened to shoot the tigers if they were not put inside the enclosure. They alleged that the forest officials had not informed them about the release of the tiger from Kanha Tiger Reserve into the forest.

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MB2 with other tigers at Kanha Tiger Reserve

The villagers say that their dependence on forests forces them to enter the tiger reserve for cattle grazing and other forest produce. Such were the protests at Angul that it led to emergence of reports that the Madhya Pradesh Government has put the Tiger Relocation Project on hold till the matter gets resolved.

However, PCCF Sandeep Tripathi denied hearing any such thing from the MP Government and told MCL, “We have not received any such news about the Madhya Pradesh government shelving the Tiger Relocation Project for the time-being."

While Sudersan Panda, Additional PCCF and Field Director, Satkosia Tiger Reserve refused to comment on the situation at Angul, wildlife conservationists in the state are worried about the future of the project.

Interacting with MCL, wildlife conservationist Aditya Panda, shared, “It is a state embarrassment that we have allowed such a situation to arise where our ability provide protection to a Schedule I species has been found questionable and at the mercy of politically motivated rabble rousers.”

He further added, “These elements have always been active in Satkosia and their nuisance mongering should have been anticipated. They have always sought excuses to protest the implementation of wildlife and forest protection laws in the Protected Area.

He added “Till the late 2000s, timber smuggling and wildlife poaching was rampant in Satkosia. The anti-social elements involved in misinforming local communities and creating hostility towards the Forest Department could only be the ones aggrieved by the clampdown on such lawlessness in recent years and those with petty political motives. The spreading of silly rumours such as those stating that these tigers were maneaters in MP are testament to the ill intentions of the so called campaigners. This is also a wake up call for the park management which has failed to earn the trust of local communities and in spreading awareness amongst them..”

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Speaking on threats issued by the agitators to shoot the tigers, Panda said, “Those openly threatening to poach a Schedule I species and take the law into their own hands must be taken into preventive custody. Cases must be built against them for instigating a riot. The district administration and police must come in support of the park management in this. At the same time, serious confidence building measures need to be taken up to win the support of local communities for wildlife conservation. The best examples exist in MP itself where responsibly organised wildlife tourism has become the primary source of livelihood and social development for communities living around their tiger reserves. There is no reason why similar tourism in Satkosia can’t provide the same benefits to communities present there. Unless these facts are communicated properly and acted upon, earning the support of locals for wildlife conservation will remain a challenge.”

Meanwhile, the state government needs to give out a strong statement of reassurance that it is committed to the revival of Odisha as one of India’s prominent tiger states and that it will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the tiger reintroduction project is a success and a stable tiger population is re-established in Satkosia Tiger Reserve.

“The re-establishment of a stable, breeding, thriving tiger population in the heart of Orissa in Satkosia will lay the foundation of tiger recovery across the state. Satkosia is contiguous to vast tiger landscapes of northern and southern Orissa that will get occupied by future spillover tigers if these habitats are protected well. However, this is easier said than done. Satkosia still suffers from immense biotic and law and order pressures. The state government made a massive mistake in denotifying huge villages in the middle of the reserve from the tiger reserve. This will fragment the reserve from within. The relocation of Raigoda was long due and kudos to the current park management for achieving it but many other villages and settlements remain within and need to be offered the option to relocate. Chief amongst these being Tulka, the settlement at Labangi, Baghmunda, etc,” said Aditya.

Voicing his opinion on the issue, wildlife expert BiswajitMohanty said, "Satkosia will remain a man-animal conflict zone until the villagers are relocated which is possible only if they volunteer to do so. As most of these villagers keep cattle, the tigers would prefer going for easy prey instead of hunting in the wild. Though inhabitants of Raigoda village situated in the core area of the tiger reserve were relocated, villages in the buffer zone continue to exist and relocation of these villagers would be impossible."

Mohanty holds the pathetic tiger conservation practices by forest officials responsible behind the dwindling tiger population in the state. "How else is it possible that the state which had around 192 tigers a few years back is left with just 40?"

Questioning the decision of moving the last known male tiger from Satkosia in 2013, Mohanty further said, "It was a young, wild tiger and the decision of putting it inside a zoo was wrong. I don't understand why more than two to three tigers are kept inside the zoo? That male wild tiger needs to be released into the wild."

Meanwhile, expressing anguish over the reaction of villagers about the tiger being a man-eater, Sanjay said, “MB2 is yet to be three years old and was the major attraction back home because of its looks and physique. When visitors, tourists and experts heard about MB2 moving to Satkosia Tiger Reserve, many protested the idea of giving our best breed to another state."

On whether the Madhya Pradesh Government had put the project on hold for the time being, Sanjay said, "This project will take a few years to complete as three pairs will be shifted to Satkosia. We are observing how the officials keep a track on the animal in the wild and its security, after which the other tigers will be moved too. The first tiger relocation took three years. We will be monitoring the status of the tigers for a minimum of six months. The male tiger from Kanha has already been released into the wild and another female tiger is waiting in the enclosure."

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MB2 with other tigers at Kanha Tiger Reserve

However, Sanjay is concerned about the threats from villagers about killing the tiger. He said, "The forest department of Odisha was in a hurry to initiate the project. Why did they go for it without taking the villagers into confidence? They should have had a proper dialogue with the villagers and created awareness among them about tourism. The coordination and cooperation of the villagers is essential as these tigers will remain in the wild, and there will always be chances of them searching for easy prey. They will search for cattle in nearby settlements. So, villagers need to be trained to deal with such situations."

Pictures by: Sanjay Shukla, Field Director of Kanha Tiger Reserve

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