Odisha’s wildlife wing has asked the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to identify the source population of a Royal Bengal Tiger recently detected in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, as forest officials intensify surveillance across the protected area.
The forest department wrote to the NTCA on Friday, attaching two camera-trap photographs of the male tiger and requesting assistance in determining the landscape from which it dispersed. Officials said the tiger was detected entering Debrigarh on November 9 and was later directly sighted by forest personnel.
The NTCA had confirmed in 2022 that the same male tiger had reached Debrigarh from Kawal Tiger Reserve. Wildlife officials said identifying its current source population could help establish the animal’s dispersal history, movement ecology, behavioural patterns and prospects of forming a territory in a new landscape.
“A tiger was detected in Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary on Nov 9. In this regard, it is requested that your good office may kindly facilitate identification of the tiger’s source population and the landscape from which it may have dispersed to reach Debrigarh,” the letter to the NTCA said.
Officials said young male tigers commonly disperse from their natal territories in search of suitable habitat, prey and breeding opportunities. Camera-trap records, identification through individual stripe patterns and genetic profiling can help determine a tiger’s age, previous locations, territorial associations and movement history, according to a wildlife officer quoted in the report.
The latest sighting marks the second recorded tiger movement into Debrigarh in the last five years. The sanctuary does not have a resident tiger population, but it has received dispersing tigers in the past. A tiger that entered the sanctuary in 2022 remained in the area for about one and a half years before dying of electrocution in neighbouring Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary between 2022 and 2024.
Forest officials said the newly detected tiger entered Debrigarh through the Dechuan-Lakhanpur forest route and is currently moving through the core area while exploring its territory. The movement has prompted authorities to strengthen monitoring along the sanctuary’s boundary trails.
Around 100 camera traps and 27 teams are being used for daily patrols across the sanctuary. Three layers of teams are conducting night patrols, officials said. The surveillance is intended to track the tiger’s movement and gather evidence about its behaviour and route through the landscape.
Officials said information about earlier encounters with human settlements, habitat disturbance and other tigers could help interpret the animal’s present movements. Such records may also assist authorities in assessing its adaptability, potential conflict risks and likelihood of settling in a particular landscape. The Odisha wildlife wing is awaiting the NTCA’s assistance in identifying the tiger’s source habitat and population.
