In news- The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the Chhattisgarh government’s proposal to declare the combined areas of the Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve (TR).
About the new Tiger reserve-
- The new Reserve is located in the northern part of Chattisgarh, bordering Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
- This will be the fourth Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh, after the Udanti-Sitanadi, Achanakmar, and Indravati Reserves.
- The proposal was considered by the NTCA on September 1, and approval was granted a month later under Section 38V(1) of The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Originally part of the Sanjay Dubri National Park, Guru Ghasidas Park was created as a separate entity in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja region after the formation of the state in 2001.
- It was the last known habitat of the Asiatic cheetah in the country.
- Turning Guru Ghasidas into a TR is important because it connects Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh and provides a corridor for tigers to move between the Bandhavgarh and Palamau Tiger Reserves.
- The Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary was identified as part of the Sarguja Jashpur Elephant Reserve in 2011.
- Both were identified as reserve forests, and had been in line to be notified as Tiger Reserve since 2011.
Source: Indian Express
