Similipal National Park a poacher’s paradise

Subject: Environment

Section : Places in news

Context: On January 22, carcass of a male elephant, whose population is already on a decline, was found.

More on the news:

Similipal has turned out to be the haven for hunters and poachers as the region has witnessed several killings of elephants, tigers and leopards.
The last elephant census of 2017 in the state recorded 344 males out of a total of 1,976.
About 20 adult breeding male elephants die each year, mostly to unnatural causes like poaching and electrocution. The dwindling breeding male population and the isolated populations due to fragmented forests is weakening the gene pool due to mating among immature individuals and inbreeding.

About Similipal National Park:

Simlipal is a tiger reserve in the Mayurbhanj district in the Indian state of Odisha
It is part of the Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve, which includes three protected areas -Similipal Tiger Reserve, Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary.
Simlipal National Park derives its name from the abundance of red silk cotton trees growing in the area.
The vast terrain of Similipal with wide altitudinal, climatic and topographic variations, criss-crossed by large number of perennial streams, harbours a unique blend of Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Sub-Himalayan plant species.
The floristic composition indicates a connecting link between South Indian and North Eastern Sub-Himalayan Specie
Forest is predominantly moist mixed deciduous forest with tropical semi-evergreen forest in areas with suitable microclimatic conditions and sporadic patches of dry deciduous forests and grasslands. It forms the largest watershed of northern Odisha.
It holds the highest tiger population in Odisha, and harbours the only population of melanistic tigers in the world.
Other carnivores found here are leopard, leopard cat, fishing cat, jungle cat and wolf. The active management of mugger has revived its population on the banks of the rivers Khairi and Deo.
Similipal Tiger Reserve is also home to the largest population of elephants in Odisha.
This protected area is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2009.

About Elephants:

India is the natural home of the largest population of Asian elephants.It is also found in Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Asian Elephant- Endangered
Convention of the Migratory species (CMS): Appendix I
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I