Bhubaneswar, Oct. 5: Authorities of Similipal National Park and Tiger Reserve claim to have succeeded in curbing the practice of Akhand Shikar, a tribal ritual involving mass hunting of animals in the reserve forest.

'Akhand Shikar-related killings have stopped since 2012,' said park deputy director J.D. Pati.

Mass hunting of animals by the tribal residents of villages in and around the national park had been going on for decades as part of their custom. Tribal hunters, armed with guns, bows and arrows consider killing of wild animals during the months of April and May to be particularly auspicious. Often, the hunting ritual extended beyond April-May making it hard for the park authorities to protect the wildlife.

Pati asserted that the menace of Akhand Shikar is as good as over.

'We have been able to stop the killings, but we still step up security in the park area during those months of the year. In recent years, the ritual has become more symbolic and they have stopped hunting animals,' said the officer who also claimed that poaching in the park area had been curbed to a great extent.

'Only some minor incidents of poaching have been reported in the recent past. Cases of elephant poaching have not been heard of since the Maoist attack on the sanctuary (in 2009),' said the officer adding that efforts were on to make the park safe for wildlife.

Even relocation of villages from the sanctuary's core area has taken place in the past. Pati said Bakua was the only village within Similipal's core area whose residents were yet to move out.

However, sources said that elephant poaching had taken place in Similipal even after Maoists attacked the sanctuary in 2009. In 2011, six elephants were allegedly killed in various parts of Similipal. The year before that, 10 elephants had died in and around the park under suspicious circumstances prompting environmentalists to accuse the authorities of being hand-in-glove with the poachers.

In another development, park authorities today said that the sanctuary would reopen for tourists from November 1. The national park and tiger reserve was closed for tourists from mid-June for monsoon.