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If everything goes as planned, the Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the Odisha’s finest protected areas, could become India’s newest tiger reserve (TR) – and the state’s third.
Nestled close to the vast expanse of the Hirakud Dam reservoir on one side in Bargarh district, the proposed TR is in the final stages of necessary appraisals as an expert committee is reviewing its core and buffer zones.
In 2023, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) set the process in motion by granting in-principle approval to the Odisha government’s proposal for Debrigarh to be designated as a TR.
Earlier in 2022, the state government had proposed an 804.51 sq km area as a tiger reserve with a core of 353.81 sq km covering the entire Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, while 450.70 sq km was demarcated as the buffer, including 56 villages.
Within the core critical zone, two religious tourism sites — Girigobardhan temple and Barabakhra — are located. In July this year, the state government constituted an expert committee for verification and delineation of the core and buffer areas. The core of the sanctuary is free of human settlements.
The 2004 tiger census had estimated five tigers in the Debrigarh landscape. Evidence of tiger presence was recorded from time to time in the sanctuary during that period, but growing anthropogenic pressure and conflict led to a decline in numbers.
However, photographic evidence of tiger movement was once again found in the sanctuary in 2018. Considering this potential, the Odisha government proposed TR status for Debrigarh in the same year. The NTCA then called for details of the core and buffer demarcations, tourism zones, and rights and settlements within the critical core.
Huge prospect as a tiger reserve
Granting TR status to Debrigarh could strengthen Odisha’s efforts in tiger conservation and supplementation. Of the two notified TRs in the state, only Similipal now has a thriving population of big cats, though it remained a low-intensity habitat for years. Satkosia, the other reserve, saw its tiger population collapse within 10 years of notification. A reintroduction effort in 2018 ended in disaster, after which plans were put on hold.
The Odisha government has recently shown intent to experiment with tiger supplementation. Similipal received two tigresses from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) last year, while plans for reintroduction in both Satkosia and Debrigarh are actively under consideration.
In Satkosia, the government has worked on reconfiguring the core by relocating human settlements. Debrigarh, on the other hand, has emerged as a strong prospect, having adopted scientific management measures that helped the habitat step out of its conflict-riddled past, transforming into a vibrant ecosystem.
Meticulously planned conservation practices and relocation of settlements to create inviolate spaces for wildlife have equipped the Hirakud Wildlife Division to reintroduce tigers in the landscape.
Following NTCA’s in-principle approval, the state government has allowed the Wildlife Wing to proceed with the introduction of one male and two female tigers from the Central Indian landscape in Debrigarh Sanctuary.
According to Odisha’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Prem Kumar Jha, the larger Debrigarh landscape — especially the sanctuary’s core — is now completely free of human pressure and holds significant potential for harbouring tigers. “We are working in this direction,” he said.
Connected to Central Indian landscape
A major advantage of Debrigarh is its connectivity to the Central Indian landscape. A forest corridor links Debrigarh, from the west, to Gomarda Sanctuary (Chhattisgarh), which is connected to Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, a landscape directly linked with the habitats of Madhya Pradesh.
Similarly, the sanctuary in the southwest is connected to Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary, contiguous with Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, which in turn links to the tiger habitats of Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
Towards the east, Debrigarh is connected to Satkosia Tiger Reserve via the Sambalpur–Athmallik forest corridor, also used by elephants. As Satkosia connects to Similipal through Hadagarh, this provides a route for wildlife movement from Debrigarh to Similipal as well as into the neighbouring West Bengal landscape.
These links, says Anshu Pragyan Das, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Hirakud Wildlife Division, offer scope to strengthen conservation by maintaining habitat connectivity and facilitating genetic exchange. In fact, a tiger spotted in Debrigarh in 2022–23 was found to have come from Kawal Tiger Reserve (Telangana) via Udanti-Sitanadi TR and Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary.
Rich in prey density
The relocation of human settlements from the core, along with habitat management focused on gaur, sambar, and spotted deer, has yielded significant results in recent years.
The latest census conducted by the Hirakud Wildlife Division reported an increase in gaur population — 788 individuals, up from 659 the previous year. This indicates robust breeding and healthy herd dynamics of this Schedule-I species.
The density of sambar, estimated at 40 per sq km, is another strong indicator of tiger-compatible habitat, according to the DFO.To achieve this, six villages with around 468 families located inside the core were relocated between 2018 and 2022.
Two villages — Debrigarh and Jhagadabehera with 68 families — were relocated in 2018, while another four villages — Kurumkel, Rengali, Bhutuli, and Lambipali with around 400 families — were shifted in 2022.
Das confirmed that the core of the proposed reserve now has no villages, as all settlements were relocated by March 2022, with rights and claims settled through gram sabhas conducted jointly by the Revenue and Forest Departments.
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