Tiger Reserves and Tiger Census- UPSC

Tiger Reserves and Tiger Census

Tigers are at the top of the food chain and are sometimes referred to as “umbrella species" that their conservation also conserves many other species in the same area.

More than 80% of the world’s wild tigers are in India, and it’s crucial to keep track of their numbers.

India’s five tiger landscapes are:

Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains,
Central Indian Landscape and Eastern Ghats,
The Western Ghats,
North-East Hills and Brahmaputra Plains and
Sundarbans.

According to recent Census, Region-wise Highest population are in Central Indian Landscape and Eastern Ghats followed by Western Ghats Region.

Tiger Census 2018:

The fourth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2018, has entered the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey.
The country now has an estimated 2967 tigers as per the latest census.
With this number, India is home to nearly 75% of the global tiger population.
It has already fulfilled its resolve of doubling tiger numbers, made at St. Petersburg in 2010, much before the target year of 2022.

4th cycle of All India Tiger Estimation- Highlights:

While the 2014 census pegged the total number of striped big cats in the country at 2,226, the 2010 census put it at 1,706 and the 2006 version at 1,411, indicating that tiger numbers have been on the up.
State-wise highest number of tigers were found in Madhya Pradesh- 526, followed by Karnataka- 524 and Uttarakhand- 442 tigers.
In five years, the number of protected areas increased from 692 to over 860, and community reserves from 43 to over 100.
While Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of tigers, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu registered the “maximum improvement” since 2014.
Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in their tiger numbers while tiger numbers in Odisha remained constant. All other states witnessed a positive trend.

Conservation efforts- National and Global:

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has launched the M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status), a mobile monitoring system.
At the Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010, leaders of 13 tiger range countries resolved to double its number in the wild, with slogan ‘T X 2’.
Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) program by World Bank. Formed the Global Tiger Initiative Council (GTIC), with two arms –the Global Tiger Forum and the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program.
The Project Tiger, launched in 1973, has grown to more than 50 reserves amounting to 2.2% of the country’s geographical area.

Tiger Reserves of India

Top 5 Reserves in terms of Core Zone Area: Nagarjunsagar Srisailam >Amrabad >Namdhapa > Satpura> Melaghat.

Sl. No.	Name of Tiger Reserve	State/ District Climate/ Vegetation	Rivers /Physiography Protected Areas inside reserve Indigenous tribes	Area of the core / critical tiger habitat (In Sq. Kms.)	Total area (In Sq. Kms.)
1	Nagarjunsagar Srisailam	Andhra Pradesh (Kurnool, Prakasam, Guntur, Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar)	Krishna river, Ethipothala Falls, Pedda Dukudu falls , Nallamala hills. Gundla Brahmeshwaram WLS Chenchus	2595.72	3296.31
2	Namdapha	Arunachal Pradesh(Changlang district)	Noa Dihing River originates at the Chaukan Pass. Between the Dapha bum range of the Mishmi Hills and the Patkai range. Lisu tribes	1807.82	2052.82
3	Kamlang Tiger Reserve	Arunachal Pradesh Lohit District Tropical and Subtropical climate	Rivers: Kamlang Mishmi, Digaro Mishmi , and Miju Mishmi people	671.00	783.00
4	Pakke / Pakhui	Arunachal Pradesh (Pakke Kessang district) Subtropical climate Tropical Wet Evergreen to Alpine	Rivers: Nameri,Pakke, kameng In news for Hornbill Conservation Sessa Orchid Sanctuary and Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. Nyishi tribe	683.45	1198.45
5	Manas	Assam(Chirang and Baksa District) Tropical monsoon type climate Semi evergreen to Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests Endemic spp: Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog	Manas River	840.04	3150.92
6	Nameri	Assam		200	344
7	Orang Tiger Reserve	Assam (Darrang and Sonitpur districts)	Northern bank of the Brahmaputra River, Pachnoi river, Belsiri river and Dhanshiri River border the park.	79.28	492.46
8	Kaziranga Important Bird Area	Assam(Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts) Elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests,	Indian leopard, gaur, chital, striped hyena, Indian jackal, sloth bear,	625.58	1173.58
9	Valmiki	Bihar(Champaran district)		598.45	899.38
10	Udanti-Sitanadi	Chattisgarh		851.09	1842.54
11	Achanakmar	Chattisgarh		626.195	914.017
12	Indravati	Chhattisgarh		1258.37	2799.07
13	Palamau	Jharkhand(Latehar district) Part of Betla National Park and Palamau WLS	North Koel River	414.08	1129.93
14	Bandipur	Karnataka (Chamaraja nagar) Shrub to dry to moist deciduous,	Kabini river in the north and the Moyar river in the south. Nugu river runs through the park. Badagas	872.24	1456.3
15	Bhadra	Karnataka		492.46	1064.29
16	Dandeli-Anshi	Karnataka (Uttara Kannada district,)	Kali River black panther, Indian bison, sloth bear, Indian wild boar, bonnet macaque, gray langur, gray slender loris,	814.884	1097.514
17	Nagarahole	Karnataka		643.35	1205.76
18	Biligiri Ranganatha Temple	Karnataka		359.1	574.82
19	Periyar	Kerala Malabar grey hornbill, Nilgiri wood pigeon, blue-winged parakeet, Nilgiri flycatcher	located high in the Cardamom Hills and Pandalam Hills of the south Western Ghats	881	925
20	Parambikulam	Kerala(Palakkad district) It is in the Sungam range of hills between the Anaimalai Hills and Nelliampathy Hills	Kadar, Malasar, Muduvar and Mala Malasar	390.89	643.662
21	Kanha	Madhya Pradesh		917.43	2051.791
22	Pench	Madhya Pradesh		411.33	1179.63225
23	Bandhavgarh	Madhya Pradesh		716.903	1598.1
24	Panna	Madhya Pradesh		576.13	1578.55
25	Satpura	Madhya Pradesh		1339.264	2133.30797
26	Sanjay-Dubri	Madhya Pradesh		812.571	1674.502
27	Melghat	Maharashtra (Amravati District) Tropical dry deciduous in nature, dominated by teak (Tectona grandis)	Tapti River and the Gawilgadh ridge of the Satpura Range form the boundaries. Reserve is catchment area of Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga and Dolar. Korku tribe (80 %) and others like Gond, Nihal etc	1500.49	2768.52
28	Tadoba-Andhari	Maharashtra		625.82	1727.5911
29	Pench	Maharashtra		257.26	741.22
30	Sahyadri	Maharashtra(Satara , Sangli, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri) Moist deciduous forests to evergreen		600.12	1165.57
31	Nawegaon-Nagzira	Maharashtra(Gondia district) Dry mixed forest to moist forest		653.674	653.674
32	Bor	Maharashtra (Hingani in Wardha District) Dry deciduous forests ecoregion, with the main species being teak, ain, tendu (East Indian ebony) and bamboo.	Bor Tiger Reserve will be merged with Pench Tiger Reserve as a 'Satellite core area', Indian leopard, Indian bison, blue bull, chital, sambar deer, barking deer, mouse deer	138.12	138.12
33	Dampa	Mizoram		500	988
34	Similipal	Odisha		1194.75	2750
35	Satkosia	Odisha		523.61	963.87
36	Ranthambore	Rajasthan(Sawai Madhopur) Dry deciduous forests and open grassy meadow Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, nilgai, wild boar, sambar, striped hyena, sloth bear,	Bounded to the north by the Banas River and to the south by the Chambal River. Ecoregion: Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests	1113.364	1411.291
37	Sariska	Rajasthan		881.1124	1213.342
38	Mukandra Hills	Rajasthan		417.17	759.99
39	Kalakad-Mundanthurai	Tamil Nadu(Tirunelveli)		895	1601.542
40	Anamalai	Tamil Nadu (Cuddalore District)		958.59	1479.87
41	Mudumalai	Tamil Nadu(Nilgiris District)		321	688.59
42	Sathyamangalam	Tamil Nadu(Erode District) tropical evergreen (Shola), semi-evergreen, mixed-deciduous, dry deciduous and thorn forests.	Irula tribe (also known as the Urali) and Soliga communities	793.49	1408.4
43	Srivilliputhur Meghamalai	Tamil Nadu(Virudh nagar District)	Recently Formed in 2020
44	Kawal	Telangana(Mancherial District) Dry deciduous teak forests mixed with bamboo,	It’s catchment for the rivers Godavari and Kadam.	893.23	2019.12
45	Amrabad	Telangana		2166.37*	2611.39*
46	Dudhwa	Uttar Pradesh Terai belt of marshy grasslands swamp deer, sambar deer, barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, sloth bear		1093.79	2201.7748
47	Pilibhit	Uttar Pradesh (Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur Districts) Sal Shorea robusta forests.	River Sharda and the River Ghaghara Suhelwa and Sohagibarwa wildlife sanctuaries	602.798	730.2498
48	Amangarh (buffer of Corbett TR)	Uttar Pradesh		-	80.6
48	Corbett	Uttarakhand (Nainital and Pauri Garhwal district) Monsoon type Moist deciduous forest	Ramganga river, Patli Dun valley Bhoksa/Buksa people	821.99	1288.31
49	Rajaji TR	Uttarakhand(Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal.)		255.63	1075.17
50	Sunderbans	West Bengal(South 24 Parganas, Khulna and Bakerganj) Royal Bengal tiger, saltwater crocodile, river terrapin, olive ridley turtle, Ganges river dolphin, hawksbill turtle and mangrove horseshoe crab.	Hugli to the mouth of the Meghna river	1699.62	2584.89
51	Buxa	West Bengal	Northern bank of the Brahmaputra River	390.5813	757.9038
	TOTAL			40340.12	71027.10

Source: PIB

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