‘Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve’ becomes Madhya Pradesh’s 7th protected habitat for big cats

Subject : Environment

Section: Protected Areas

Context:

Madhya Pradesh, which is home to the most number of tigers in the country, has got a new protected area for the big cats named ‘Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve’, the seventh in the state.

Tiger reserves in M.P.:

M.P. was home to six tiger reserves – Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Satpura, Pench, Panna and Sanjay-Dubri.
Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve is the 7th tiger reserve of the state.
The previously notified eco-sensitive zone of Nauradehi and Veerangana Durgavati sanctuaries and the surrounding forest areas have been included in the notified buffer area.
The areas including this tiger reserve are already notified as sanctuary or eco-sensitive areas.

Tigers in Madhya Pradesh:

As per the report ‘Status of Tigers: Co-predators & Prey in India-2022’, released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, MP (785) has the highest number of tigers in the country, followed by Karnataka (563) and Uttarakhand (560).

Veerangana Durgavati tiger reserve:

Veerangana Durgawati Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, India.
Named after Rani Durgavati, a queen of the Gondi people, and covering an area of only 24 sq km.
Flora: consisting of hills, valleys and plains with several streams flowing through them. The vegetation is predominantly tropical mixed dry deciduous forest and some teak forests with trees accounting for 70 of the 121 species of plants found here.
Fauna: The sanctuary hosts 18 species of mammals, including the leopard, wolf, jackal, Indian fox, the striped hyena and sloth bear besides several species of deer. Besides these, the sanctuary is also home to 177 species of birds, 16 species of fish and reptiles and 10 species of amphibians.