Odisha to launch 1st captive breeding of sambar to augment prey base
Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s first captive breeding of sambar will be undertaken at the Satkosia division of Satkosia Tiger Reserve to increase their population so that they can be later released into the wild and redistributed among sanctuaries with scarce prey density. Sambar as prey is known to be a favourite of Royal Bengal Tigers and leopards, officials said.
“We will lodge at least six pairs of sambar in an enclosure at Tulka, a core area of the reserve. While the males will be fetched from captivity, the females are most likely to be brought from the wild of Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary. They will be left in the enclosure, and we will observe how they acclimatise. The help of veterinarians will be taken to check their health conditions and other requirements,” said Saroj Kumar Panda, divisional forest officer, Satkosia Wildlife Division.
Increasing the sambar population at Satkosia is one of the prerequisites for the proposal to resume tiger translocation here after the failed bid in 2018. The reserve’s prey density improved from 23 animals per sqkm in 2017-18 to 39/sqkm now. However, most of the prey includes deer and a few sambar.
Satkosia officials said the detailed project report (DPR) for conservation breeding has been sent to the chief wildlife warden through the field director of Satkosia for approval. “We have the enclosure ready at Tulka because we created one to house chital for their translocation. Once we get the approval, we will start formalities for breeding,” Panda added.
Satkosia now has inviolate space for the translocation programme beyond the core in the entire northern part of the tiger reserve, having an area of 840.44 sqkm. However, there are plans to add 800 sqkm of more area. Chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said, “The proposal to take up conservation breeding of sambar at Satkosia is under consideration, and it will be approved, taking into account all mandatory requirements to make it a success.”
Last year, around 1,500 prey animals were translocated to different forests and sanctuaries from overcrowded zoos under the prey augmentation/recovery programme.
“We will lodge at least six pairs of sambar in an enclosure at Tulka, a core area of the reserve. While the males will be fetched from captivity, the females are most likely to be brought from the wild of Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary. They will be left in the enclosure, and we will observe how they acclimatise. The help of veterinarians will be taken to check their health conditions and other requirements,” said Saroj Kumar Panda, divisional forest officer, Satkosia Wildlife Division.
Increasing the sambar population at Satkosia is one of the prerequisites for the proposal to resume tiger translocation here after the failed bid in 2018. The reserve’s prey density improved from 23 animals per sqkm in 2017-18 to 39/sqkm now. However, most of the prey includes deer and a few sambar.
Satkosia officials said the detailed project report (DPR) for conservation breeding has been sent to the chief wildlife warden through the field director of Satkosia for approval. “We have the enclosure ready at Tulka because we created one to house chital for their translocation. Once we get the approval, we will start formalities for breeding,” Panda added.
Satkosia now has inviolate space for the translocation programme beyond the core in the entire northern part of the tiger reserve, having an area of 840.44 sqkm. However, there are plans to add 800 sqkm of more area. Chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said, “The proposal to take up conservation breeding of sambar at Satkosia is under consideration, and it will be approved, taking into account all mandatory requirements to make it a success.”
Last year, around 1,500 prey animals were translocated to different forests and sanctuaries from overcrowded zoos under the prey augmentation/recovery programme.
