A male Royal Bengal tiger has entered Odisha’s Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, prompting forest authorities to deploy 100 camera traps, 27 patrol teams and layered night surveillance while photographs are examined by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India.
The tiger was spotted by forest personnel and recorded on a camera trap after entering the sanctuary through the Dechuan-Lakhanpur forest route. Officials have not yet determined the animal’s age, source population or other identifying details. Images from the camera traps have been sent to the NTCA and WII for analysis.
Anshu Pragyan Das, divisional forest officer of the Hirakud wildlife division, said a monitoring mechanism had been activated across the sanctuary. “The source of the tiger and other details can be determined only after analysis of the photographs by NTCA and WII,” Das said.
According to the officer, 27 teams are conducting daily patrols along the border trails of Debrigarh sanctuary. Night patrolling is being carried out through three layers of teams. Authorities have also discussed coordination and safety measures with Bargarh superintendent of police R N Satapathy for areas surrounding the sanctuary.
The sighting is the second reported tiger movement into Debrigarh in five years. The sanctuary does not have a resident tiger population, but dispersing tigers have entered the protected area in the past.
The previous tiger stayed in Debrigarh from 2022 to 2024 for about one-and-a-half years before dying from electrocution in neighbouring Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary. Another tiger recorded in 2018 also died of electrocution outside Debrigarh. Three poachers were later arrested in connection with that case.
The current sighting comes as forest officials monitor other tiger movements across Odisha and adjoining forest landscapes. On Saturday, authorities issued an alert around the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited township at Sunabeda in Koraput district after a Royal Bengal tiger entered the area. Officials said it was likely the same animal whose presence had earlier been detected through pug marks in Semiliguda.
In Malkangiri district, a radio-collared male tiger from Andhra Pradesh’s Papikonda National Park had been moving through the Motu region before crossing back into Andhra Pradesh, officials said.
These movements have increased the need for coordination between forest and police authorities in areas bordering protected forests, particularly where wildlife corridors meet settlements and other developed zones. In Debrigarh, however, officials said the tiger’s source and other details would remain undetermined until the NTCA and WII complete their analysis of the photographs.
