Bhubaneswar, Sep 10: Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia informed the Assembly that 55 tigers have died in the state over the past decade.
These deaths occurred between the 2014-15 and 2023-24 fiscal years.
In response to a written question from BJP legislator Tankadhar Tripathy, Singkhuntia detailed that, in addition to the 55 tigers, 48 leopards also died due to various causes including poaching, accidents, and natural deaths during this period. Specifically, two Royal Bengal Tigers were poached, three died in accidents such as drowning, falling from heights, and infighting, while one tiger succumbed to natural causes. The cause of death for another tiger remains unknown.
The minister elaborated that among the 48 leopards, 21 were victims of poaching, four were electrocuted, two were involved in train accidents, three died in road accidents, five succumbed to diseases, and four died of natural causes. Additionally, three leopards were lost to accidents like drowning and infighting, and six leopards died from unknown causes.
Over the past decade, the state government translocated two Royal Bengal Tigers (one male and one female) from Madhya Pradesh to Odisha, with no tigers being relocated out of the state during this period.
Singkhuntia reported that in the Similipal Tiger Reserve (south), two Royal Bengal Tigers died in the 2023-24 fiscal year, and one died in 2017-18. Additionally, two other Royal Bengal Tigers died—one in Bargarh and the other in Satkosia during the 2018-19 fiscal year. Other deaths occurred in the Bolangir forest division in 2016-17 and the Keonjhar Wildlife Division in 2022-23.
