{"id":5610,"date":"2026-03-08T17:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T11:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/?p=5610"},"modified":"2026-03-08T17:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T11:32:20","slug":"debrigarh-sanctuary-hosts-2nd-indian-bison-fest-with-wide-public-participation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/?p=5610","title":{"rendered":"Debrigarh Sanctuary Hosts 2nd Indian Bison Fest with Wide Public Participation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debrigarh :Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary successfully organized the 2nd Indian Bison Fest today, drawing more than 600 participants from diverse sectors of society. This year\u2019s festival introduced Night Camping as a special feature, offering participants a unique opportunity to experience the wilderness of Debrigarh.
\nThe morning session included expert deliberations on the Indian Bison (Gaur), a wildlife documentary screening, and prize distribution to school and college students who won the drawing competition organized as part of the event. The themes for the competition were \u201cStrength of the Wild \u2013 Pride of Debrigarh Sanctuary\u201d for junior participants and \u201cWild Heritage of India \u2013 The Mighty Gaur\u201d for senior participants. The occasion also recognized the efforts of frontline staff, with awards presented to the best performing Foresters and Forest Guards for their outstanding contribution to Gaur conservation and protection.
\nThe festival programme is followed by a 2.5-hour Gaur Safari within the sanctuary and stargazing sessions for night-camping participants, where visitors will observe constellations ranging from Saptarishi Mandal to Orion under the pristine night sky over the sanctuary and the nearby Hirakud Wetland.\"\"
\nTomorrow morning\u2019s activities include a visit to Bat Island and Island Caf\u00e9, where visitors can safely observe more than 1,000 fruit bats (Flying Foxes) that roost on the island.
\nDebrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary has emerged as an important conservation landscape for the Indian Bison in eastern India. Recent field observations estimate the population at around 848 individuals, reflecting an increase of nearly 190 animals in the past year. Frequent herd sightings, the presence of calves, and the sanctuary\u2019s grassland\u2013forest mosaic habitat support successful breeding and recruitment.
\nWith its strong ecological integrity and balanced ecosystem, Debrigarh holds significant potential as a long-term source population for Gaur conservation in India. Ongoing initiatives such as habitat management, grassland restoration, wetland conservation, and systematic population monitoring aim to further strengthen the sanctuary as a secure breeding stronghold for this iconic species.\"\"<\/p>\n

Shri.Himanshu Lal,IPS, IG of Police, Northern Range Sambalpur, Bison Expert of India Dr.K Shankar, DFO Hirakud Wildlife Division Ms.Anshu Pragyan Das, regional Wildlife enthusiasts of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sonepur, Bolangir & other districts graced the occasion alongwith 600 EDC members(villagers) from different villages adjoining Sanctuary.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debrigarh :Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary successfully organized the 2nd Indian Bison Fest today, drawing more than 600 participants from diverse sectors of society. This year\u2019s festival introduced Night Camping as a special feature, offering participants a unique opportunity to experience the wilderness of Debrigarh. The morning session included expert deliberations on the Indian Bison (Gaur), a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-district","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5616,"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5610\/revisions\/5616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bargarhonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}