Odisha introduces female tiger to check inbreeding in Similipal Reserve

Sub : Env

Sec :Protected Area

Context:

The Odisha government recently translocated a female tiger from Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve to improve genetic diversity in its tiger population.

Tiger Translocation Details:

Odisha introduced a female tiger, aged two years and seven months, to Similipal as part of a plan to add two tigresses.
Reason for Translocation:
- Odisha requested the National Tiger Conservation Authority to introduce female tigers from different landscapes into Similipal.
- This is due to inbreeding issues in Similipal’s tiger population, which has led to the emergence of pseudo-melanistic (black-striped) tigers.
Similipal’s Tiger Population:
- The All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE-2023-24) reported 30 tigers in Odisha’s forests, with 27 residing in Similipal.
- Similipal has 13 adult pseudo-melanistic tigers (seven females and six males), a unique phenomenon in wild habitats worldwide.

Pseudo-Melanistic Tiger Study:

A study, High Frequency of an Otherwise Rare Phenotype in a Small and Isolated Tiger Population reveals that about 37% of Similipal’s tigers are pseudo-melanistic, with wide, merged stripes.
The study suggests these unique traits are likely due to strong inbreeding and local genetic factors.
Odisha has proposed the world’s first melanistic tiger safari in Similipal’s buffer region to promote conservation and tourism.

Black Tigers or Melanistic Tigers:

Melanism is a genetic condition in which an increased production of melanin, a substance in the skin that produces hair, eye and skin pigmentation, results in black (or nearly black) skin, feathers or hair in an animal.
Many royal Bengal tigers of Similipal belong to a unique lineage with higher-than-normal levels of melanin, which gives them black and yellow interspersed stripes on their coats.
These tigers are not entirely black, and are therefore more accurately described as being pseudo-melanistic.
As per the 2022 cycle of the All-India Tiger Estimation, 16 individuals were recorded at STR, out of which 10 were melanistic.
What Makes Tigers (Pseudo) Melanistic?
- According to research of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NBCS, Bengaluru), a single mutation in the gene Transmembrane Aminopeptidase Q (Taqpep) causes black tigers’ stripes to enlarge or spread into the yellow background.
- Genetic analyses of other tiger populations in India and computer simulations suggest that the Similipal black tigers may have arisen from a very small founding population of tigers, and are inbred.
- The STR cats live isolated from other tigers, because of which they breed among themselves.

Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR):

Similipal is a tiger reserve in the Mayurbhanj district (adjoining Jharkhand and West Bengal) in the Indian state of Odisha covering 2,750 km2 (1,060 sq mi).
It is part of the Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve, which includes three protected areas – Similipal Tiger Reserve, Hadagarh 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 park is home to the Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, gaur and chausingha, and this protected area is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2009.
The STR is Asia’s second largest biosphere (after the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat), and the country’s only wild habitat for melanistic royal Bengal tigers.