The Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s dense forest cover and innumerable water inlets spread across 353 square kilometer area is home to 659 Indian Bison, a schedule-1 animal protected under Wildlife Protection Act, according to the maiden census of these animals.

The Indian Bison is the largest and tallest wild cattle in the world. It is a Schedule-1 animal under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and is listed in the vulnerable category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. 85% of the Bidons in the world is in India with a population ranging between 15,000 and 20,000.

Their overall population was found to be 659, including 210 Juveniles (30% of total population). 659 were seen in approximately 52 herds. The herd size in the Sanctuary varies from eight to 33. 30% of young in the total population indicating a fast growing or thriving population in Debrigarh Sanctuary, said Anshu Pragyan Das, Divisional Forest Officer, Hirakud wildlife division.

In the sanctuary area, massively-built strong bulls weighing up to 1,500 kg have been recorded during Census. Female bison moving with calves in the herd were seen. Indian-Bison is one of the major herbivores of Debrigarh, she said.

Census was covered on foot with systematic surveys along the forest roads, animal trails, water bodies, grasslands and meadows, saltlicks, etc. Since estimation and detection probability played a crucial role, the survey was conducted for two days. Each Beat in Sanctuary was stratified into small segments which were covered by separate teams to avoid overlapping. The Tourism Zone in Debrigarh Sanctuary has recorded a presence of more than 100 Gaurs in 6 herds including few massively built adult Bulls. Three herds in the Tourism Zone have more than a dozen Indian-Bison.

The age, gender classification could not be ascertained because of difficulty in identifying the animals due to dense forested areas and presence of tall grasses.

But detection probability was around 80% for estimation of total population; this implies 20% of the population could have been missed due to restricted visibility and group movement creating hurdles in detection.

The Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary is crisscrossed by more than sixty seasonal and perennial water-inlets and streams interspersing the hilly regions, valleys and plains.

The sanctuary ensures water availability round the year and serves as a natural water purifier for the sanctuary animals. It also plays an important role in preserving the forested ecosystem.

Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary has no human pressure inside the core after relocation of all villages from the Sanctuary during 2022. Because of emphasized focus on grassland management, no human-gaur conflict incidents or gaur straying out to nearby villages, crop raids are recorded in recent years though population has increased, the senior forest officer concluded.