Male RBT covers 1500km to reach Similipal, a first for the reserve

Bhubaneswar: Adding another chapter to India’s tiger dispersal story, a male Royal Bengal Tiger has entered Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve after supposedly covering nearly 1,500km.

Though wildlife experts are yet to find out the habitat from where it may have dispersed, initial assessments suggest it may have come from the central India landscape, possibly the Vidarbha region.

It must be mentioned that in Nov 2023, a Royal Bengal Tiger had covered a distance of nearly 2,000km from Tadoba and reached Odisha’s forests.

Wildlife officials said the fresh dispersal is the first recorded instance of a tiger from an outside landscape reaching Similipal on its own, marking a significant moment in the reserve’s conservation history.

The tiger’s presence has been confirmed through a camera trap image, though authorities are still trying to match its stripe pattern to determine its exact origin.

Similipal officials said the animal is an adult male and has so far been moving largely within the reserve’s core area.

“The tiger has been captured in camera trap. It’s a male RBT. But we have not yet found out which particular habitat of the central landscape it has come from,” said a wildlife officer from Similipal on condition of anonymity.

The officer noted that while two tigresses, Zeenat and Yamuna, were earlier translocated to Similipal from Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, this is the first time a tiger from another landscape has arrived in the reserve on its own.

For conservation experts, the tiger’s arrival is more than an isolated sighting. It is being seen as proof of forest connectivity and the ecological value of linked landscapes.

Anup Nayak, former member secretary of National Tiger Conservation Authority, described the development as a positive sign for Similipal. “The reserve is trying to rebuild its tiger population with a fresh gene pool, and the arrival of a male from a different habitat naturally supports that goal. Young tigers often travel widely in search of territory, especially as they mature and move away from established ranges,” Nayak said.

Similipal, which is known for its melanistic tigers, has sufficient prey, but dispersing big cats may still continue exploring before settling. For now, officials are closely monitoring the newcomer.