The decision of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to suspend the repopulation project at Satkosia Tiger Reserve is a telling commentary on the sorry state of the big cat in Odisha. Faced with the challenging task of tiger recovery, the state administration floundered. Of the three pairs of tigers that the Madhya Pradesh government had promised in what was India’s first interstate tiger relocation project, one pair arrived last year.
Four months after its release, the male perished due to a poacher’s snare while the female was released and recaptured after getting involved in a bloody conflict that led to the death of two villagers. Citing mismanagement and gross violation of its protocol, the apex body on tiger conservation suspended the ambitious programme last week and ordered the return of the tigress back to MP. It also had some stinging remarks for the Satkosia park management. In the 12 years since Satkosia was accorded tiger reserve status, the number of big cats have dwindled from 12 to almost zero.
Now it has blown its only chance of revival. The story of Satkosia mirrors the tale of tiger conservation in Odisha. Between 2006 and 2018, Tamil Nadu raised its tiger population from 76 to 224. During this period, Odisha’s numbers slumped from 45 to 28. A bureaucracy indifferent to the importance of tiger conservation is solely responsible for this mess.
For years, the Naveen Patnaik- led government has been in denial, inflating the numbers and resisting changing conservation needs. Even as other states with tigers have added new habitats and benefited immensely by aligning local communities with tiger tourism, Odisha has failed to read the writing on the wall. In 2008, the government had given inprinciple approval for according tiger reserve status to Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary in Nuapada district adjoining Chhattisgarh’s Udanti-Sitanadi habitat. It took another seven years to clear the formalities. Despite frequent reminders from NTCA, Sunabeda still awaits notification. This is Odisha’s tragedy.