1: An Insight Into The World's First Melanistic Tiger Safari In Odisha

- Odisha is facilitating the setup of the world's first melanistic tiger safari near the Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR).

- The safari, spread across approximately 200 hectares near Dhanbad-Balasore National Highway-18, is constructed to simulate the landscape of STR.

- Initially, this revolutionary safari will house three melanistic tigers from Nandankanan Zoo along with rescued or orphaned tigers.

2: Pseudo-Melanistic Tigers: Their Uniqueness and Conservation Needs

- Melanism is a genetic condition leading to increased melanin, giving rise to black or nearly black skin, feathers, or hair in animals.

- Simlipal Tiger Reserve shelters 16 tigers, with 10 of them being pseudo-melanistic due to elevated melanin levels.

- The World's first melanistic tiger safari aims to heighten awareness about the melanistic tigers' conservation needs by providing a platform for researchers and enthusiasts to interact.

3: Approvals and Regulations

- The melanistic tiger safari project requires the green signal from the Central Zoo Authority and other regulatory bodies supervising wildlife initiatives in India.

- A National Tiger Conservation Authority committee will conduct a feasibility study of the proposed site before giving the final approval.

4: Different Color Variations in Tigers

- Tigers can exhibit several colour variations, like the common orange with black/brown stripes, white tigers resulting from leucism, and golden tigers due to a recessive gene called "wideband."

5: An Overview of Simlipal Tiger Reserve

- Located in the Deccan Peninsula Biogeographic Zone, Simlipal is home to diverse flora and fauna, hosting 7% of India's flowering plants and 8% of its orchid species.

- Apart from tigers, Simlipal also teems with sambar, chital, barking deer, gaur, and mouse deer, leopards, and fishing cats.

- The concerted management efforts have revived the mugger crocodile populations along rivers Khairi and Deo.

- Simlipal has been recognized as a Global Network of Biospheres site since 2009.

This focus on establishing the world's first melanistic tiger safari highlights Odisha's commitment towards conserving the unique genetic lineage of Royal Bengal Tigers, emphasising the importance of biodiversity preservation. This landmark project signifies a revolutionary turn in wildlife tourism, creating a platform to advance the study of melanistic tigers and promote their conservation.