SARISKA TIGER RESERVE

SARISKA TIGER RESERVE

TOPIC: Environment

Context- The tiger population in Sariska Tiger Reserve has gone up to 25, while the re­sources are being provided to create water holes and de­velop grasslands for ungu­lates as a prey base.

Concept-

Sariska Tiger Reserve

• Sariska Tiger Reserve is located in Aravali hills and forms a part of the Alwar District of Rajasthan.

• The Reserve is immensely rich in flora and fauna, and is famous for Royal Bengal Tiger.
• The park has populations of leopards, Nilgai, Sambar, chital etc. It also shelters a large population of Indian peafowl, crested serpent eagles, sand grouse, golden backed woodpeckers, great Indian horned owls, tree pies, vultures, etc.
• Sariska was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1955 and was declared the tiger reserve later in 1978, making it a part of India’s Project Tiger.
  • The Sanctuary houses ruined temples, forts, pavilions and a palace.
  • Kankarwadi fort is located in the center of the Reserve and it is said that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had imprisoned his brother Dara Shikoh at this fort in struggle for succession to the throne.
  • The Reserve also houses a famous temple of lord Hanuman at Pandupole related to Pandavas.

Project Tiger:

• Project Tiger is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change providing central assistance to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body of the Ministry, with an overarching supervisory/coordination role, performing functions as provided in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
  • The NTCA was launched in 2005, following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force. It was given statutory status by the 2006 amendment of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• India now has as many as 2,967 tigers in the wild, with more than half of them in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, according to the latest tiger census 2018.
• The population of tigers have increased by 33% since the last census in 2014 when the total estimate was 2,226.
• Sariska is the first tiger reserve to have successfully relocated Royal Bengal tigers in India and at present there are around 25 tigers in the reserve.