New home for tigers

Tiger lovers will now have one more tiger reserve to visit in Maharashtra, reports HT Correspondent.

Tiger lovers will now have one more tiger reserve to visit in Maharashtra.

HT Image

The Maharashtra government has officially recognised the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, which was formed by carving out parts of Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary. The state forest department issued a notification to this effect on January 5.

This move comes almost a year after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) declared Sahyadri a tiger reserve. The notification was issued after a meeting at Mantralaya between Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam, Principal Secretary, Forests, B P Pandey, and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests A.K. Joshi, among others.

Spread over 741.22 sq km, Sahyadri will be the first tiger reserve in Western Maharashtra, and the fourth in the state after Tadoba, Melghat and Pench. The reserve, according to the 2007 census, is estimated to have nine tigers and 66 leopards.

“We have notified the area and will now bring out details on the critical habitat areas and buffer zones for the reserve,” said Pandey.

A proposal to carve out this segment — 317.67 sq km from Chandoli National Park, and 423.55 sq km from Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary — and call it Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, was first put up in 2007, and considered by the NTCA in 2008.