Country's 56th Tiger Reserve notified in Chhattisgarh

Why in the news?

• Recently, Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh was notified as the 56th Tiger Reserve of the country.

Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve:

• The Chhattisgarh government, on the advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, notified the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Korea, Surajpur and Balrampur districts of Chhattisgarh.
  • The National Tiger Conservation Authority gave final approval to notify the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in October 2021.
• It has been created by combining Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It is located in the northern part of Chhattisgarh, bordering Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
• Spread over a total area of ​​2829.38 sq km, this tiger reserve includes 2049.2 sq km of core/critical tiger habitat
  • It includes Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary
• It has a buffer area of ​​780.15 sq km.
• Located in the Chota Nagpur Plateau and partly in the Baghelkhand Plateau, this tiger reserve is blessed with varied terrain, dense forests, rivers and waterfalls.
• It is conducive to rich faunal diversity and contains important habitats for tigers.
• This tiger reserve is contiguous with Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, forming a landscape complex of about 4500 sq km.
• Also, this reserve is connected to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh in the west and Palamu Tiger Reserve of Jharkhand in the east.
• It will provide a corridor for the movement of tigers between Bandhavgarh and Palamu Tiger Reserves.
• Tigers, leopards, hyenas, jackals, wolves, bears, chinkaras and chital are found in it.
• It is the third largest tiger reserve in the country.
  • Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve of Andhra Pradesh is the largest tiger reserve in the country.
  • Manas Tiger Reserve of Assam is the second largest tiger reserve in the country.
• It is the fourth tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh.
• At present, there are three tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh –
  1. Udanti-Sitanadi
  2. Achanakmar
  3. Indravati