Baripada: In view of a slew of measures taken to ensure food chain for tigers, the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) authorities have exuded hope that the big cat population would rise in the sanctuary.
Tiger population had declined for over a decade but in the current years, their number might have increased which would reflect on the fifth phase counting report, said Samrat Gouda, deputy director of the STR, Thursday.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is going to publish a full-fledged report on the tiger population across the country on International Tiger Day to be celebrated July 29, 2022.
He stated that STR had taken up a slew of measures to maintain the food chain for the tigers inside the sanctuary.
People in core and buffer zones of the sanctuary have been relocated while grasslands have been created for growth of herbivorous animals on which tigers live on.
Besides, the STR has made provision of water bodies while mass hunting has been prevented, he added.
In Similipal, the black tiger/melanistic population has increased while some tigers might have migrated to Kuldiha sanctuary in neighbouring Balasore district.
National tiger census, which started in 2006, is being done once in every four years. The fifth round of tiger census was conducted in January 2022.
Notably, STR is home to a large variety of wild animals such as leopards, gaurs, elephants, langurs, barking and spotted deer, bears, mongoose, flying squirrels, porcupines, hill turtles, monitor lizards, pythons, king cobras, sambars, pangolins, crocodiles and four-horned antelopes.
Nearly, 55 species of mammals, 304 species of birds, 60 species of reptiles, 21 species of frogs, 38 species of fish and 164 species of butterflies are found in the sanctuary.
Similarly, about 1,078 species of plants including 94 species of orchids are found in the park.