Bhubaneswar, Nov 9 (PTI) A Royal Bengal Tiger has been sighted inside the Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Bargarh district, a forest official said on Monday.
The tiger was captured on camera and directly sighted by patrolling staff inside the sanctuary after entering through the Dechuan-Lakhanpur forest area, said Anshu Pragyan Das, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Hirakud Wildlife Division.
The big cat is suspected to have entered the sanctuary from neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
However, its origin, gender and other details will be established after the photographs are analysed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), she said.
A total of 100 camera traps have been installed and 27 teams deployed for daily patrolling along the sanctuary trails.
Night patrolling is also being carried out by three layers of teams, the forest official said.
A Royal Bengal Tiger had inhabited the Debrigarh sanctuary for around 1.5 years between 2022 and 2024.
The animal later died due to electrocution in Chhattisgarh’s Gomarda sanctuary, she added.
The sanctuary’s dense forest cover, strong prey base and availability of water in the Hirakud reservoir may have attracted the big cat, officials said.
The Odisha government has planned to introduce tigers in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary from the Central Indian landscape. PTI BBM BBM MNB
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