WILDLIFE : KARNATAKA LEADS IN THE COUNTRY WITH FIVE TIGER RESERVES GETTING ENLISTED IN THE ELITE ‘EXCELLENT’ CATEGORY BY MEE SURVEY JOINTLY CONDUCTED BY NTCA AND WII

BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY

KOLKATA, 30 JULY 2023:

Karnataka-‘ One State Many Worlds’, is leading in the country with its five tiger reserves getting enlisted in the elite ‘Excellent’ category in the survey conducted by  Management Efeective Evaluation (MEE) jointly by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Adopted from the framework of  the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) World Comission of Protrcted Areas. Since 2006 the MEE survey has started, and this is the fifth cycle report.

India has 53 Tiger Reserves spread over 18 states in the country  covering an area of 75,796.83 square kilometres. The Tiger Reserves getting over 90 % marks are listed in Excellent Category, 75-89% in Very Good category, 60-74% in Good category and 50-59% rated as Fair category.

Dr. Varadaprasada Rao,Project Manager of Karnataka Tourism Department and Smt. B.G.Indiramma, GM ( Finance) of Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation both are ecstatic with this news and said that this is a great achievement for the state forest department and will further boost the tourism.

In India out of 53 Tiger Reserves, 51 has been evaluated and 12 Tiger Reserves have enlisted in the  excellent category,  21 Tiger reserves in Very Good category, 13 Tiger Reserves in Good category and 5 Tiger Reserves in Fair category.

Bandipur, Nagarhole, Bhadra, Kali ( Dandeli – Anshi) , Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple (BRT)  – five Tiger Reserves of Karnataka have been enlisted in the Excellent category. The others are –  Annamalai, Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu, Satpura, Kanha in Madhya Pradesh, Periyar in Kerala, Pench in Maharashtra, Similipal in Odisha.

Corbet, Dudhwa,  Sundarbans, Bandhavgarh, Manas, Kaziranga    Tiger Reserves are enlisted in the Very Good category.

Rajasthan’s famous Ranathambore, Sariska, Mukundra Tiger Reserves falls under the Good category.

India currently harbours 3/4^th (seventy five percent)  of the global Tiger population. According to 2022 Tiger Census in the country the present  the sighted Tiger Population in India is 3080 and the average Tiger populations in 3682.

Madhya Pradesh has registered the highest tiger population with 785 numbers,  followed by Karnataka with 563 numbers, then Uttarakhand 560 numbers and Maharashtra with 444 numbers.

Corbet ( Uttarakhand) has highest tiger population with 260 numbers, followed by Bandipur ( Karnataka)  with 150 and Nagerhole ( Karnataka) with 141,Bandhavgarh 135,Dudhwa 135,Mudumalai 114, Kanha 105,Kaziranga 104, Sundarbans 100.

The report was released by union minister of environment, forest and climate control, Ashwini Kumar Choubey. On 9^th April 2022, PM Narendra Modi celebrated the 50 years of Project Tiger in India at Mysuru.

Karnataka has over 21 wildlife sanctuaries and 5 national parks. The state is home to highest concentration of Asian Elephants along Kabini River in Nagerhole and Bandipur Parks and one of the highest endangered tiger populations in the world. The rarest black leopards are also traced in the woods of Karnataka. Blackbucks and sloth bear population are also very high in Karnataka.

This latest survey report by the central will further boost the wildlife and adventure tourism in Karnatak, the sixth largest state in India.