World's First Melanistic Tiger Safari in Odisha

• 07 Feb 2024

Source: IE

Why in News?

Odisha is set to unveil the world's first melanistic tiger safari near the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR).

What is Odisha's Vision for the Melanistic Tiger Safari?

• Melanism and Melanistic Tiger: Melanism is a genetic condition, that results in increased melanin production, leading to black or nearly black skin, feathers, or hair in animals.
  • The Royal Bengal Tigers of Similipal boast a distinctive lineage with elevated melanin levels, giving rise to black and yellow interspersed stripes, making them pseudo-melanistic.
    • According to the All India Tiger Estimation, 2022, Similipal Tiger Reserve houses 16 tigers, with 10 of them displaying melanistic traits.
• Location of Safari: Spanning approximately 200 hectares near Dhanbad-Balasore National Highway-18, the safari site lies in close proximity to STR, providing a landscape akin to Simlipal.
  • In the beginning, three melanistic tigers from Nandankanan Zoo, along with rescued or orphaned tigers, will occupy the open enclosures of the safari.
• Objective: It aims to raise awareness about the conservation needs of melanistic tigers, providing a platform for researchers and enthusiasts to engage with these rare big cats.
• Approval: The project necessitates approvals from the Central Zoo Authority and other regulatory bodies overseeing wildlife initiatives in the country.
  • A National Tiger Conservation Authority committee will also conduct a feasibility study of the proposed site before granting final clearance.

What are the Other Colour Variations in Tigers?

• Orange with Black or Brown Stripes: This is the most common and widely recognized tiger coloration, e.g, the Royal Bengal Tiger.
  • Each tiger's stripe pattern is unique, serving as a form of camouflage, in their natural habitat.
• White Tigers: They are not considered a separate subspecies. The colour of the white tiger's fur is the result of a genetic mutation called leucism.
  • Leucism is a genetic condition that results in reduced pigmentation in animals, causing them to have white or pale-colored skin, feathers, fur, or scales.
• Golden Tigers: They are also not considered a subspecies of tigers because their golden colour variation is caused by the presence of a recessive gene called "wideband".
  • The wideband gene reduces melanin production during the cycle of hair growth.
  • Recently, it was spotted in Kaziranga National Park.

Similipal Tiger Reserve

• Location: Similipal is situated in the Deccan Peninsula Biogeographic Zone.
• Vegetation: Predominantly moist mixed deciduous forest with tropical semi-evergreen patches and sporadic dry deciduous forests and grasslands.
• Floral Richness: Holds 7% of India's flowering plants and 8% of its orchid species.
• Faunal Diversity: Home to 55 mammal species, 361 bird species, 62 reptile species, 21 amphibian species, and numerous insects and microfauna.
  • Major species other than tigers include sambar, chital, barking deer, gaur, and mouse deer, leopards, fishing cat etc.
  • Management efforts have revived mugger crocodile populations along rivers Khairi and Deo.
• It has also been designated as a Global Network of Biospheres site since 2009.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Prelims

Q. Consider the following pairs: (2013)

National Park - River flowing through Park

1. Corbett National Park : Ganga
2. Kaziranga National Park : Manas
3. Silent Valley National Park : Kaveri

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 3
(d) None 

Ans: (d)

Q2. Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat”? (2020)

(a) Corbett
(b) Ranthambore 
(c) Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam
(d) Sundarbans

Ans: C

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Mains

Q: “Policy contradictions among various competing sectors and stakeholders have resulted in inadequate ‘protection and prevention of degradation’ to environment.” Comment with relevant illustrations. (2018)