Bhubaneswar: Forest minister Ganesh Ram SinghKhuntia on Monday said Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Bargarh, is likely to get the status of a gaur national park as a proposal will be sent to the Centre for approval after a second round of technical discussions.Once accorded the status, Debrigarh will be known as Debrigarh-gaur National Park. It will be the first sanctuary to be declared a national park based on its dense Indian gaur population and third national park in the state after Similipal and Bhitarkanika.“We have had first round of discussion on giving national park status to Debrigarh. We will have a second round of meeting, and that will be mostly on technical issues. There are now no villages inside the sanctuary, yet we need to interact with those living along the fringe area. We can notify a national park status after it receives approval from the Centre,” the minister told TOI.Hirakud wildlife division, under which Debrigarh falls, submitted a detailed proposal to the PCCF (wildlife) in Jan for declaring it Debrigarh-gaur National Park. The PCCF has forwarded the proposal to the govt, which has been reviewing it since then.Wildlife officials said Debrigarh was made free of human settlements by 2022, and all rights and claims were settled after conducting gram sabhas in 2021-22. No human settlement, habitation, village or encroachment is present within the 290.65sqkm area proposed for the national park. The wildlife sanctuary area is spread over 353sqkm, including the tourism zone, officials said.Officials added the sanctuary has a robust Indian gaur population, currently estimated at 848. Between Nov 2024 and Dec 2025, it recorded an increase of 189 gaurs. Every range in the sanctuary maintains a monthly register of newborn gaurs, they said.The gaur population has risen over the past three years due to protection measures, grassland management and village relocation. “Debrigarh has the largest density of gaurs in Odisha, and it has the potential to translocate the animal to other sanctuaries. The present population is breeding well, as shown by the female-calf ratios. Debrigarh gaur density is comparable with central and south Indian landscapes,” said K Sankar, a retired senior professor from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, who has studied gaur ecology across the country.Indian bison or gaurs are prime prey for carnivores in any habitat and are particularly favoured by big cats such as Royal Bengal tigers and leopards.
