55 tigers, 41 elephants died in Odisha in last 10 years: Minister

Bhubaneswar, Sept 10 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Odisha Forest, Environment & Climate Change Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia on Tuesday informed the state Legislative Assembly that at least 55 tigers and 41 elephants have died during the last ten years in the state. Answering a question asked by BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy, Singh Khuntia said that 48 leopards and seven Royal Bengal tigers have died in the state during the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24. The minister further stated that poachers have killed 23 wild cats including two tigers and 21 leopards during the above period in the state. Similarly, four leopards died of electrocution while five leopards were killed in road and rail accidents between 2014-15 and 2023-24. He also informed the house that six big cats died due to other mishaps such as drowning, infighting or falling off from hills. As many as five leopards died of different diseases while four leopards and one tiger died of natural causes during the above period in Odisha. The reason for the deaths of seven big cats during the above can’t be ascertained. Singhkhuntia in his reply also informed that no tiger census was carried out in the state during the year 2000. The pugmark census done in 2002 found the presence of 173 royal Bengal tigers in the jungles of Odisha. However, the Union government adopted the Camera Trap Technique for the first time in 2006 for an all-India tiger estimation which tracked 45 tigers in Odisha. “This estimation was done through the Camera Trap Technique which is completely different from the pugmark census done earlier so the results of both the techniques cannot be compared,” the minister informed. He also said that All Odisha Tiger Estimation, 2024 found 27 tigers in the state which includes 24 tigers in Similipal Tiger Reserve, one each in Keonjhar, Paralakhemundi and Hirakud wildlife divisions in Odisha. Besides, eight tiger cubs were tracked during the tiger estimation in Odisha in 2024. Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj district was found to house 27 of the adults (14 female and 13 males) and all of the cubs, the report released February 26, 2024, revealed. One adult male each was sighted in the Hirakud Wildlife Division, Paralakhemundi Territorial Forest Division and Greater Similipal tiger landscape, the analysis showed. The minister while answering another question also informed the house that as many as 41 elephants were killed by poachers in the state during the period from 2013-14 to 2023-24. The minister also said that 719 jumbos died for various other reasons including electrocution, accidents etc. in the state during the above period. As many as 1145 persons were killed following attacks by the elephants across the state between 2013-14 and 2023-24. —