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New Indian Express
2 days ago
- New Indian Express
Four elephant tusks seized, five arrested in Odisha's Keonjhar
BHUBANESWAR: In a major crackdown on smuggling of wildlife items in the state, forest officials on Friday seized four elephant tusks and arrested five persons in this connection from Keonjhar. The Similipal Wildlife Intelligence Network (SWIN) played a crucial role in the raid jointly carried out by the Keonjhar Territorial Division and officials of the Similipal Tiger Reserve, said PCCF wildlife and chief wildlife warden (CWW) Prem Kumar Jha. Jha said, the seizure and arrests mark a significant step towards curbing poaching and illicit wildlife trade in the region. Based on the intelligence input of SWIN, a special action team was formed under Keonjhar DFO Dhanraj Hanumant Dhamdhere and ACF Sudipta Panda. The team carried out raid on the house of one Gangadhara Patra in Balibeda village under Banspal beat in Suakati section on Friday morning and seized four elephant tusks from the possession of five persons. Other incriminating materials including four mobile phones and two motorcycles were also seized from their possession. The accused Patra along with four others Narada Munda from Jambhiriposi, Krishna Chandra Munda from Jodapokhari, Ghasiram Munda from Baradapal in Keonjhar and Kedarnath Patra from Bhaliadiha in Mayurbhanj district have been booked under various sections of Wildlife Protection Act 1972, said the Keonjhar DFO. He said the length of the four seized tusks were in the range of 15.5 to 22 inch, while the overall weight was about five kg.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Wildlife wing issues alert over ‘tiger' entering Sundargarh forests from Chhattisgarh
1 2 3 4 Bhubaneswar/Rourkela: The Chhattisgarh forest department has alerted its Odisha counterpart regarding a suspected tiger dispersing from Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary in Raigarh to Lephripada in Sundargarh district. Hemgiri forest near Lephripada and adjoining areas are suspected to be the regions where the tiger is roaming. The wildlife wing has issued an advisory to the Sundargarh forest division to install camera traps at several locations to track the big cat. An alert has also been sounded. "I have asked the DFO to install camera traps so that it can be ascertained if the animal is a tiger. Pug marks at times can be misleading. People say they have seen pug marks, but it is subject to verification," said chief wildlife warden (Odisha), Prem Kumar Jha. Forest officers said locals have been advised not to go inside the forest and not to leave their cattle and goats for grazing. Additionally, the Ujalpur forest range installed three more cameras on Friday. Forest officials are also patrolling frequently in the Lephripada forest. They anticipate that the tiger might have gone to the Ujalpur range as well. "We are not sure but suspect that a tiger has dispersed. Sounding an alert helps check conflict with humans and save both the animal and people. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Beautiful Women In The World Undo Raigarh is close to Sundargarh, so the animal must have travelled to the Odisha forest. Earlier, a tiger from Achanakmar sanctuary in Chhattisgarh dispersed to Debrigarh, where it stayed for almost a year before dispersing further. Later, it was found dead in a forest in Chhattisgarh," said principal chief conservator of forests (Chhattisgarh), Sudhir Agarwal. P Naik, range officer, Hemgir, said, "We are on alert. Ever since we got the information about the tiger's entry, we have been continuously patrolling inside the forest. We have not been able to spot the big cat so far." "We have been regularly patrolling to find out pug marks but we have not yet found any pug mark in Athakoshia reserve forest. We installed five cameras in Athakoshia forest on Thursday, and we have installed three more cameras on Friday to capture the movement of the tiger," said Debdutta Nanda, range officer, Ujalpur. In Hemgiri forest, a melanistic leopard was captured in a camera trap last year, six years after a similar big cat was captured. It was also suspected to have come from Chhattisgarh. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Raksha Bandhan wishes , messages and quotes !
New Indian Express
5 days ago
- New Indian Express
Odisha to adopt HAWK for wildlife crime monitoring
BHUBANESWAR: In a major step towards tightening the noose around poachers and wildlife criminals, the state government is planning to replicate the Hostile Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK) system, an advanced data-driven platform that has revolutionised wildlife crime monitoring and enforcement in Kerala. Addressing the state-level DFO conference here, PCCF (Wildlife)-cum-chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said the state wildlife wing will soon use HAWK technology to replace manual documentation of wildlife crimes, and equip forest field staff and wildlife crime investigating officials with realtime data tracking, analysis and intelligence generation. The state will also leverage the cutting-edge technology for effective wildlife management. The cloud-based information management system used by the Kerala Forest department to combat wildlife crime will enhance forest officials' ability to prevent and address illegal wildlife trade and related activities, sources said. Jha said the state is also planning to launch PRAHAR application for submission of monthly progress report at divisional-level for regular monitoring of forest and wildlife management and to improve transparency. He spoke on other advanced technologies being used for forest and wildlife management. Use of AI camera towers and AI integrated trail guard cameras have immensely helped officials in Similipal and other forest landscapes to monitor movement of the wildlife and crackdown against the wildlife criminals. Use of thermal drone and other technologies have also proven to be huge success, he said.
Time of India
29-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Odisha to introduce tigers in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Odisha government is planning to introduce tigers in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Bargarh district, a senior Forest department official said on about the revival of big cat population in Odisha on the occasion of National Tiger Day , Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Wildlife Prem Kumar Jha said Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary is a possible site for introduction of is a plan to introduce tigers in the sanctuary, as "We have received technical permission from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to convert Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve," Jha state government has formed an expert committee to study the wildlife sanctuary and submit a report marking the core area and buffer zone to make it a tiger habitation, he said."After completion of the process, we will take steps to bring the tiger to the sanctuary," he that tiger relocation is a very difficult process, the PCCF (Wildlife) said, "The relocation of tigress Sundari in Satkosia Tiger Reserve has remained unsuccessful."Last November, two tigresses -Jamuna and Zeenat-were brought to Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) from inter-state tiger relocation project was 80 per cent successful as Zeenat went to Jharkhand and West Bengal and again brought back to STR. Now, both tigresses have been confined in their different territories, Jha among the closed population has emerged as a looming threat to the striped predators in the protected area. Therefore, the STR authority had proposed to bring four tigers-two males and two females--from studying the behaviours of the two tigresses, steps will be taken to bring another tiger to the STR, he said.A similar move will be taken in future to bring tigers to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, which doesn't have any tigers at present, the forest officer 2018, the Odisha government had made a tiger translocation attempt at Satkosia Tiger Reserve. A tiger named Mahavir was brought from Kanha National Park and a tigress named Sundari from Bandhavgarh National Park, both in Madhya Pradesh, and released in the tiger died after falling into a trap laid by poachers, the tigress was sent back to its original habitat after it allegedly killed two persons during its 30-month stay in per the latest census conducted by the Odisha forest department, 30 Royal Bengal Tigers were found in the state, of which 27 were found in the Similipal Tiger the Tiger Day, acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF India), has created a sand sculpture featuring a 20-ft-long tiger surrounded by 51 small tigers at the Puri said, "It is an honour to collaborate with WWF-India on Global Tiger Day to create this sand art that reflects the tiger's deep connection with our forests and communities.""Through my work, I aim to send a strong visual message about the importance of co-existence. The tiger is not just a symbol of power-it is a protector of our environment and it serves as a guardian of our ecosystem," he said.
New Indian Express
17-06-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Week-long celebration in Odisha as crocodile conservation turns 50
KENDRAPARA: Come Tuesday, Odisha will commemorate 50 years of its pioneering crocodile conservation projects on World Crocodile Day. In 1975, three conservation projects were launched in the state for as many species - salt-water crocodiles in Bhitarkanika, gharials in Satkosia and muggar in Similipal. These initiatives have gone on to transform reptile conservation in the country. 'The main objective of the crocodile conservation project was to protect their natural habitats and rebuild the population quickly through captive breeding,' said Dr Sudhakar Kar, noted herpetologist and former wildlife researcher of the Forest department. Over five decades, these initiatives have become one of India's most successful wildlife conservation programmes. 'We are happy for the success for which Forest department has decided to celebrate 50th anniversary of Crocodile Conservation Project in the state on June 17 by organising week-long meetings, seminars, workshops, photo exhibitions, quiz and painting competitions,' said principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), wildlife Prem Kumar Jha. Dr Kar began saltwater crocodile breeding and rearing work in Bhitarkanika in 1975 alongside noted Australian herpetologist Dr H R Bustard. He is continuing his pioneering work even 13 years after retirement. Expressing concern over the increasing human-crocodile conflict in Bhitarkanika, he said forest officials have warned riverside villagers not to venture into creeks and rivers and erected barricades at several ghats to prevent attacks. As per the latest census report, Satkosia gorge is home to 16 gharials, 1,826 salt-water crocodiles reside in Bhitarkanika National Park and around 300 muggers live in the rivers of the state.
