New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Environment Forest and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Thursday said that Melanistic tigers (black tigers) have been recorded only in the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha.
As per the 2022 cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation, 16 individuals were recorded at Similipal Tiger Reserve, out of which 10 were melanistic, he said in a written statement to Rajya Sabha today.
On protection of the rare breed of tiger, the Union Minister said a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for active management towards rehabilitation of tigers from source areas at the landscape level.
Based on genetic composition, the Similipal Tiger Reserve has been identified as a distinct genetic cluster for conservation, he pointed out.
Funding assistance is provided under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH) to the Similipal Tiger Reserve for conservation of tigers, raising awareness on tiger & other wildlife conservation, habitat management, protection, eco-development, human resource and infrastructure development, voluntary village relocation, as per sanctioned annual plan of operation of the Tiger Reserve which emanates from a statutory Tiger Conservation Plan, Choubey further said.
During the last five financial years, the Government of India has released Rs 32.76 crore assistance to the STR. While Rs 650.88 lakh was released during 2018-19, Rs 660.53 lakh released in 2019-20, Rs 539.39 lakh in 2020-21, Rs 766.06 lakh in 2021-22 and Rs 659.82 lakh during 2022-23.
Recently, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) wildlife Susanta Nanda has also shared two beautiful pictures of the two Royal Bengal Tigers, of which one is melanistic tiger, who lost the fight to T35. The T35 (another RBT) has a black mark at his forehead, which is also unique.
The two tigers fight for one territory. The forest officials noticed that T31 left the place after having a fight for a week from November 9. Now, T35 was seen roaming alone in the area. Three female tigresses, which were also visiting the territory, left the place, officials said.
A study led by ecologist Uma Ramakrishnan and her student Vinay Sagar from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, in 2021, revealed that the coat colouration and patterning causing the wild cats to appear dark stem from a single mutation in the Transmembrane Aminopeptidase Q (Taqpep) gene.
Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in September 2021, their study noted that tigers in the Similipal Tiger Reserve form an isolated population in eastern India, with very limited gene flow between them and other tiger populations.
The researchers said that such isolated and inbred populations are highly susceptible to extinction, even over short periods, which poses crucial implications for tiger conservation efforts.