Odisha appears to have lost yet another of its rare melanistic tigers to poaching, with forest officials on Monday confirming the seizure of a tiger hide and the arrest of nine persons in Mayurbhanj district, which houses Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), the only known habitat of such rare big cats in the world.
Sources said forest officials seized the skin from the Kuliana area under the Baripada forest division and arrested nine accused in a coordinated operation. The prime accused in the case and three others, however, remain at large.
Gobinda Chandra Biswal, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Baripada, said two suspects were initially apprehended while in possession of the tiger hide, and their interrogation led to the arrest of seven others. “The tiger is suspected to have been killed around two months ago,” he said and maintained that those responsible for killing the rare animal would face stringent action.
This wildlife crime marks the second such seizure of a melanistic tiger hide from the fringe areas of Similipal in the last 14 months. Earlier, a special enforcement wing of the Similipal South Wildlife Division had seized the hide of a melanistic tiger from Tentula village and recovered its nails from Balighat during a raid on January 12 last year. Four persons were then arrested in this connection.
The twin cases of melanistic tiger poaching have raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of protection measures in the reserve. It is worrying given the scale of investments made in protecting STR.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Odisha government together allocate over ₹100 crore annually for tiger conservation, including anti-poaching operations and habitat management. In recent years, the Forest Department has also installed more than 200 AI-integrated cameras across the reserve to strengthen surveillance.
Melanistic tigers, often referred to as “black tigers”, are a rare genetic variant caused by pseudo-melanism, which results in thick, merged stripes and a darker coat. These tigers are found exclusively in Similipal, making the reserve globally significant. According to the latest All Odisha Tiger Estimation, STR is home to 32 Royal Bengal tigers (RBTs), including 19 melanistic ones.
While forest officials maintain that this is among the rare instances of melanistic tiger poaching being detected, the repeated seizures suggest that such cases may be underreported. Odisha has generally not been considered a major hotspot for RBT poaching, but sporadic incidents have been recorded over the years, often linked to organised wildlife crime networks dealing in skins and body parts.
Sources said methods such as snares and poisoning in fringe forest areas have been observed in past cases, though improved surveillance has led to higher detection rates. Despite the measures, the recovery of two melanistic tiger skins within a little over a year has exposed potential gaps in ground-level enforcement and intelligence gathering.
Wildlife experts warned that the loss of even a single melanistic tiger is a significant blow to global biodiversity, as Similipal remains the only known habitat of these elusive animals.
Meanwhile, forest officials have launched a detailed investigation to trace the full extent of the poaching network and determine whether more individuals were involved.
Forest officials posing with nine persons arrested in connection with the poaching of a melanistic tiger in Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha
