Bhubaneswar: Tourists sighted a Royal Bengal tiger that recently strayed into Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Baragada district, and it later hunted a sambar deer in the sanctuary’s core zone, suggesting it has adapted to the habitat. Locally known as ‘Mahabala Bagha’, the tiger was spotted by tourists travelling in four safari vehicles in the sanctuary’s tourism zone Monday afternoon.
Around 40 visitors watched the big cat from about 300 feet away. “It was quite exciting to see the royal animal in the wild. I had earlier visited the Sundarbans in West Bengal hoping to spot a tiger but could not see one,” said Kolkata tourist Joydeb Saha. Another visitor, Santosh Kumar Pradhan from Jajpur, described the sighting as exhilarating, saying he had previously seen tigers only in zoos.
Later that evening, the male tiger hunted a sambar deer in the core zone, said Hirakud Wildlife Division DFO Anshu Pragyan Das Tuesday. The tiger was earlier captured by camera traps and spotted by forest patrol teams after entering the sanctuary through the Dechuan-Lakhanpur forest area. Its origin and other details are being examined through photographic analysis by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
The Forest Department has installed 100 camera traps and deployed 27 teams for round-the-clock surveillance, including night patrols. River and boundary patrols have also been intensified. Police in Baragada and Sambalpur, local communities and informers have been alerted to report poaching attempts, traps and suspicious activities.
A reward of Rs 1,000 has been announced for information leading to the detection of such threats, with informers’ identities to remain confidential. The last tiger sighting in Debrigarh was reported in 2022. The animal stayed for about 18 months before moving to Chhattisgarh’s Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary, where it reportedly died after being electrocuted. Spread over 900 sq km, including a core area of about 500 sq km, Debrigarh is awaiting formal notification as a tiger reserve following the Centre’s approval of the State Government’s proposal.
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