Tiger Census in Odisha in October

Bhubaneswar: The tiger census will be conducted in Odisha in the month of October this year. This process for the enumeration of tigers will continue for around one and a half months.

The training programme for the tiger census will start on Friday. The state forest department will train people to be involved in the tiger census program in phases.

In the first phase, 20 master trainers will be trained at Chandaka Godibari and one ACFO from each of the eight circles will receive the training. Two experts from the Tiger Department of Wildlife Institute of India, Bengaluru have reached Odisha for the training program.

The forest department will use the line-transact and camera trap techniques to count the tigers. The enumeration process will start in the second week of October. The result of the process is expected to be out in January 2024.

According to the Central government report, the number of tigers in Similipal Sanctuary has increased from 8 to 16. As per the report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), there were 45 tigers in the state in 2006. Their number reduced to 32 in 2010.

In 2018, the tiger number in Odisha came down to 28. The figure dropped further in 2021-22 to 20.