BHUBANESWAR: The committee of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), formed for feasibility assessment of the world’s first melanistic tiger safari near Similipal, has given its approval for the project.
A senior forest official said the committee did not raise any objection as Manchabandha reserve forest near Baripada, the site picked for the safari, is faraway from Similipal Tiger Reserve. Basing on the committee’s report, the NTCA has now recommended referring of the proposal to CZA.
A technical committee of the CZA will now review the project and suggest if any changes are required in the detailed project report (DPR) which contains the project map, area proposed for the project and facilities to be created in the safari for the big cats, etc.
After the final DPR is approved, it will be forwarded to a Supreme Court committee for vetting which is a must to take up the safari project on forest land. “After field assessment committee’s nod, the project may not face any difficulty in obtaining approval from the CZA as a few of its officials were also a part of the NTCA field assessment team,” said a senior official from the state wildlife headquarters.
The melanistic tiger safari has been planned to be established in the Manchabandha reserve forest area adjoining NH-18 of Baripada town in Mayurbhanj district for which the Forest department has earmarked a 150 hectare patch of land. The committee, comprising members of the NTCA and CZA had in May this year paid a visit to the site after the project received in-principle approval from the apex tiger conservation body.
Around 40 to 50 hectare of the total land will be reserved as display area and the balance area utilised for creation of veterinary care facilities including a rescue centre, staff infrastructure and visitors’ amenities among others.
The state government plans to release six tigers, four melanistic and two white tigers, in the safari initially. While three melanistic tigers along with two white tigers of the same lineage will be brought from Nandankanan Zoo, another melanistic tiger, unfit for rewilding, will be brought from Ranchi as part of an agreement between the Odisha and Jharkhand governments.