Bhubaneswar: A male Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) entered Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary on Monday, marking the second such tiger movement into the protected area in the last five years. The big cat was spotted by forest personnel as well as captured on a camera trap, prompting wildlife authorities to intensify surveillance across the sanctuary.Forest officials said the tiger entered the sanctuary through the Dechuan-Lakhanpur forest route. Its sex, age and source population are yet to be determined. Photographs captured by camera traps have been sent for analysis to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).Divisional forest officer (DFO), Hirakud wildlife division, Anshu Pragyan Das, said a robust monitoring mechanism has been activated following the sighting. “The source of the tiger and other details can be determined only after analysis of the photographs by NTCA and WII. We have deployed 100 camera traps and 27 teams are carrying out daily patrols along the border trails of Debrigarh sanctuary. Night patrolling is being undertaken by three layers of teams,” Das said.Though Debrigarh does not have a resident tiger population, it has witnessed visits by dispersing tigers in the past. The last tiger had stayed in the sanctuary between 2022 and 2024 for around one-and-a-half years before it died due to electrocution in neighboring Gomarda wildlife sanctuary. Earlier, another tiger recorded in 2018 had also died of electrocution outside the sanctuary. Three poachers were subsequently arrested in connection with that case.Authorities have also held discussions with superintendent of police (Bargarh) R N Satapathy to strengthen coordination and ensure safety measures in areas surrounding the sanctuary.The sighting comes amid heightened tiger movement across Odisha. On Saturday, forest officials sounded an alert around the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) township at Sunabeda in Koraput district after a Royal Bengal Tiger strayed into the area. Officials said the animal was likely the same tiger whose presence had earlier been detected through pug marks in Semiliguda.Meanwhile, the radio-collared male tiger from Andhra Pradesh’s Papikonda National Park, which had been roaming in Malkangiri district’s Motu region, has crossed back into Andhra Pradesh, officials said. The recent movements have underscored the growing dispersion of tigers across eastern India’s forest landscapes.