- With its tiger population plunging in recent years, Chhattisgarh has approved the proposal to notify a new tiger reserve, the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve.
- This will be the third-largest tiger reserve in the country, spanning 2,829 square kilometres across four northern districts: Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Koriya, Surajpur, and Balrampur.
- The Chhattisgarh High Court gave the state government four weeks to declare the area a tiger reserve.
- Chhattisgarh’s tiger population fell from 46 in 2014 to 17 in 2022, according to a National Tiger Conservation Authority report released in July 2023.
- The state cabinet merged Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Sanctuary to create the new reserve.
- While Guru Ghasidas National Park was made a tiger reserve in 2021, it couldn’t be notified earlier due to opposition and the presence of many mines in the area.
| Andhra Pradesh’s Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve is the largest in the country, covering 3,296.31 sq km, followed by Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam at 2,837.1 sq km, both housing 58 tigers. |
Dig Deeper: List all Tiger Reserves in Chhattisgarh.
