Expressing concern over the alarming decline in the number of tigers in Odisha, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik stressing the need for urgent steps to prevent extinction of tigers in the Similipal and Satkosia tiger reserves.
“It would be a calamity if the Odisha tiger were to become extinct. Unlike in Panna and Sariska, tigers cannot really be translocated to Similipal and Satkosia and hence the importance of not only saving but augmenting what is there now,” said Mr. Ramesh in his letter to Mr. Patnaik on Sunday.
The former Union Environment Minister said while he was at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, on Saturday, he was shocked to learn that the tigers were well on their way to extinction in Similipal and Satkosia. “The State and the Centre have to mount a very urgent and gigantic effort to save the tiger in the State. Please take the initiative before it is too late. Time is running out,” said the Rajya Sabha member.
