Context: India has added the Madhav National Park in Madhya Pradesh as the country’s 58th Tiger Reserve. It is the ninth tiger reserve in the state after Kanha, Satpura, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Sanjay Dubri, Panna, Veerangana Durgavati and Ratapani.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Madhav Tiger Reserve; Tiger Reserve; key facts about Tiger.
About Madhav Tiger Reserve:
- Location: Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh
- Key geographical features:
- Vegetation: dry deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests and grasslands.
- Sakhya Sagar, a man-made reservoir within the park, has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2022.
- Key fauna: Tiger, leopard, jackals, nilgai, sambar, wild boar etc.
- Historical significance:
- Earlier Shivpuri National Park, was renamed Madhav National Park after Madho Rao Scindia, the Maharaja of Gwalior belonging to the Scindia dynasty of the Marathas.
- The dense forests of the National Park were the former hunting grounds of Mughals and Scindia rulers.
- The tiger reserve has George Castle inside the reserve, built by Scindias in anticipation of British King George V’s visit in 1911.
What are Tiger Reserves?
- Tiger reserves are legally declared protected areas designated to conserve tigers and their habitats.
- The tiger reserves were set up as a part of Project Tiger initiated in 1973.
- They are administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy to promote tiger conservation.
- The core areas have the legal status of a National Park or a Sanctuary.
- The buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land, managed as a multiple use area.
Who notifies Tiger Reserves?
- Tiger Reserves are notified by State Governments as per provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 on advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- The following steps are involved in the notification:
- The State Government identifies potential areas and submits a proposal to NTCA.
- NTCA reviews the proposal. After thorough evaluation, NTCA recommends the proposal.
- The State Government notifies the area as a Tiger Reserve.
- With the formation of the tiger reserve, NTCA provides funds for the management of Tiger Reserve.
Key Facts about Tiger
- Tiger is an umbrella species. Its conservation automatically ensures the conversation of a large number of flora and fauna and entire ecosystems.
- India is home to 75% of the global tiger population.
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) conducts a tiger census across India every 4 years.
- As per the latest Tiger Census Report (2022), India has 3682 tigers. (2967 in 2018)
- Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers (785) in India, followed by Karnataka (563) and Uttarakhand (560).
- Conservation status:
- IUCN Red List: Endangered
- Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule 1
- CITES: Appendix 1
Read More: List of Tiger Reserves in India