India’s 56th Newest Tiger Reserve tiger reserve: Chhattisgarh’s Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve

23-11-2024

Earlier in November 2024, the Chhattisgarh government notified the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve as India’s 56th tiger reserve.
This move aims to strengthen tiger conservation efforts in the state, which has seen a decline in its tiger population in recent years.
The reserve also aligns with the state’s ambitious plans to reintroduce cheetahs — the last cheetah was spotted here in the 1940s.
Chhattisgarh is now home to 4 Tiger Reserves.
This makes it the 3rd largest tiger reserve in the country after Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh and Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam.

Key Features of the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve:

Geographical Area and Location:
1. Size: The reserve spans an area of 2,829.387 sq km, making it the third largest tiger reserve in India.
2. Location: It is spread across four districts in the northern tribal region of Sarguja in Chhattisgarh:
  1. Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur (MCB)
  2. Korea
  3. Surajpur
  4. Balrampur
3. The reserve lies between Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Palamau in Jharkhand, and is adjacent to the Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
Biodiversity:
1. Wildlife: The Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve is home to a diverse range of species including:
  1. Tigers, elephants, sloth bears, vultures, leopards, wolves, peacocks, bison, hyenas, langurs, jackals, cobras, and more.
2. Flora: The reserve has rich vegetation including species like sal, saja, kusum, and dhavda trees. The topography comprises hills, plateaus, valleys, and a river system that creates diverse habitats for wildlife.

As of now, the state has a total of 30 tigers, including three sub-adults and two cubs.
Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve currently houses five to six tigers.
However, the state’s tiger population has declined over the years, from 46 tigers in 2014 to only 17 in 2022, according to the latest National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report released in 2023.

Tigress Relocation: To address the tiger population imbalance, the government plans to relocate tigresses from Bandhavgarh and Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh to the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Reserve.
Other Measures: These include:
1. Establishing rapid response teams.
2. Building strong relationships with local villagers.
3. Developing informant-based wildlife protection systems.
4. Deploying full-time guards for constant vigilance.

Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP):
1. The reserve authorities are preparing a comprehensive Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) to address challenges and ensure the reserve becomes a sustainable tiger habitat. The TCP includes:
  1. Improving connectivity with MP, which has a rising tiger population.
  2. Developing grasslands and water bodies to increase the prey base, including translocating animals like cheetal and wild boars from other parts of the state.
  3. Wildlife corridor development to facilitate tiger migration and reduce human-wildlife conflict.
Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation:
1. The reserve includes 42 sparsely populated villages.
2. Authorities are working on voluntary relocation options for these residents and providing employment opportunities, especially in eco-tourism activities like tour guiding, homestays, boating, and handicrafts.

Cheetah Reintroduction: Wildlife activists have suggested the reintroduction of cheetahs, similar to efforts in Madhya Pradesh.
While the cheetah population is extinct in the region, conservationists are hopeful about reintroducing this species.

Project Tiger was launched by the Indian government on April 1, 1973, as a conservation initiative aimed at protecting the country's rapidly dwindling tiger population.
At the time, India’s tiger population was critically low, primarily due to rampant hunting and poaching.

Declining Tiger Population: Before Independence, India was home to around 40,000 tigers.
However, by the 1970s, the population had plummeted to below 2,000 due to excessive hunting, poaching, and habitat loss.
Endangered Status: In 1970, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the tiger an endangered species.
This was confirmed by a 1972 census which estimated the tiger population in India to be a mere 1,800.
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: To address the growing crisis of poaching and hunting, the Indian government passed the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972, which laid the legal foundation for tiger conservation and wildlife protection.
Every year on July 29, International Tiger Day is celebrated to highlight the importance of tiger conservation across the globe.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Vision: In response to the alarming tiger population decline, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi unveiled Project Tiger in 1973, after the government received recommendations from a task force.
Initial Launch: The program was officially launched at Jim Corbett National Park, and initially, nine tiger reserves were established across different states. These were located in:
1. Assam
2. Bihar
3. Karnataka
4. Madhya Pradesh
5. Maharashtra
6. Odisha
7. Rajasthan
8. Uttar Pradesh
9. West Bengal
These reserves covered over 14,000 sq km of land.
Holistic Approach: Project Tiger wasn’t solely about protecting tigers; it also emphasized protecting their habitats.
Indira Gandhi noted that tigers, being apex predators, cannot survive in isolation, and their habitat must be safeguarded from threats like human intrusion, commercial forestry, and cattle grazing.

Growth of Tiger Population:
1. By the 1990s, the tiger population in India had increased to around 3,000.
2. However, Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan faced a major setback when tigers were wiped out by poaching in the reserve, making headlines in 2005.
3. This led to a national outcry and prompted further reforms in tiger conservation.
Reconstitution of Project Tiger (2005):
1. In response to the crisis at Sariska, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up a task force to reshape the future of tiger conservation.
2. A year later, the government reconstituted Project Tiger and established the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which had more authority and resources to prevent poaching and safeguard tiger habitats.
3. The NTCA was empowered to create the Tiger Protection Force and oversee the relocation of villages that were encroaching upon protected areas.

Tiger Reserves: As of today, India has 56 tiger reserves representing a significant portion of the tiger’s habitat in the country.
Tiger Population Growth: The tiger population in India has shown a steady increase: