India’s Critical Tiger Habitats

The areas described below harbour some of our country’s most beautiful and vital natural landscapes. But, if India is unable to offer habitat contiguity and security from poachers to tigers in these areas over the next five years, we will be remembered as the generation that supervised the demise of Panthera tigris. Protecting tigers must be at the top of our national agenda, explain Lakshmy Raman and Parth Gadhia, not for the sake of the animal alone, but because the ecological and economic security of millions of Indians depends on our ability to restore health to the Indian subcontinent. The following is a quick sketch of the tiger landscapes of India. These are, by no means, the only valuable or ‘critical’ habitats under threat, but securing their future would probably be the best first step to ecological harmony in the subcontinent.

It is not the lack of Protected Areas that threaten tigers and other wildlife in India. It is the constant threat from a political system that has proven to be willing and able to denotify existing PAs for dams, mines, roads and other ‘developmental’ projects, sever habitat connectivity and dismantle existing wildlife and forest laws.

Habitat fragmentation is the single most important factor leading to the precarious situation faced by India’s wildlife today. A drop in the prey density, poaching and human-wildlife conflict in fragmented habitats make it almost impossible for tigers to recover lost ground, as we saw so tragically in the case of Sariska.

An overview of the situation in tiger reserves across the country echoes similar problems. Poaching, mining, thermal plants, hydroelectric projects, human-wildlife conflict, encroachments, forest fires, roadkills, protection systems crippled by a shortage of motivated field staff and inadequate equipment and infrastructure. Additionally, a significant percentage of the tiger population outside our tiger reserves is being hammered. About Ranthambhore, Aditya Singh, conservationist and hotelier, says: “There are no effective corridors between Ranthambhore and other tiger areas, only death traps. Though the tiger population in the reserve is doing well, there is little protection for cubs as they disperse in search of new territories outside the park.” We know what the solutions are. Restore and protect corridors between Ranthambhore and Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary, Qualji Closed Area and the forest blocks in the Kota and Bundi districts. Further, if connectivity to Keladevi Sanctuary, Bandh Baretha Sanctuary, Bharatpur, Van Vihar Sanctuary at Dholpur and Kuno are secured, tigers would have a larger, safer and healthier range to disperse and repopulate.

The good thing is that the Rajasthan Forest Department is working with experts and NGOs towards the objective of securing tiger habitats in the manner described above. But they will need considerable support from the Central Government and the public at large.

Tigerland

The recently published report by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) lists six key landscape complexes in which tigers are found today – the Shivalik-Gangetic Plains, the Northeastern Hills and Brahmaputra Plains, Central Indian landscape, Sundarbans, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats

The Shivalik-Gangetic Plains

The Shivalik-Gangetic plain complex essentially comprises two forest blocks – Kalesar in Haryana to Kishenpur in Uttar Pradesh; and Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh to Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar. The Rajaji National Park and Corbett Tiger Reserve, which come under the first landscape block, hold great potential for long-term tiger conservation. To allow tigers to breed and disperse over a larger area, the Rajaji-Corbett corridor (the Laldhang and Kotdwar ranges of Landsdowne Forest Division) must somehow be secured. The Gohri, Chilla and Shyampur ranges must positively be cleared of all disturbances. The second forest block of Dudhwa and Sohagi Barwa (also in U.P.), and Valmiki are connected through forests in Nepal. The Katerniaghat Sanctuary links Dudhwa to Royal Bardia National Park in Nepal. This contiguous forested area allows tigers, elephants and rhinos to move freely but the porous border also allows easy infiltration of poachers. The
350 km. fragmented Pilibhit-Kishanpur-Dudhwa-Katerniaghat corridor offers one of the best tiger habitats in the country. Poaching is an ever-present threat that requires to be countered by effective protection, extensive intelligence gathering network and by instilling a pride in locals about the welfare of their forests. In Valmiki, the Wildlife Trust of India, an NGO working here since 2003, says: “Regular tiger presence has been found in six of the seven forest ranges here, and occasionally in one range. It is important to improve the protection system of the reserve and deploy armed guards, especially along the international border with Nepal and the state border with Uttar Pradesh.”

The Northeastern Hills and Brahmaputra Plains

Extending from the Pakke Tiger Reserve to Palia, Tale Valley, Mouling and Dr. D. Ering Sanctuaries into Dibung National Park right up to Namdapha Tiger Reserve, this landscape is the largest contiguous montane forest habitat for tigers in south Asia. To the south of this belt, lie the national parks of Intanki, Dampa and Blue Mountain. In Arunachal Pradesh, the situation for tigers is even graver than earlier presumed. Despite extensive camera-trap studies over various trapping sessions between 2005 and 2007, researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) obtained no tiger or
leopard photos here. Says Aparajita Dutta of NCF, “Between 1999 and 2007, in an area of 1,000 sq. km., tiger pugmarks were seen on only four occasions, with the last one seen in the winter of 2005. During the three-month trapping study in 2006-07, no indirect evidence of tigers was seen. However, there are reports from the forest department of tiger sightings by tourists and of cattle kills by tigers in 2005-2006 near Chakma villages at the western edge of the park.” Namdapha’s location on the international border with Myanmar makes it vulnerable to professional poachers from across the border. Says Dutta, “The Lisu say that tigers have moved up into higher areas of the park away from the main river valleys. If poaching is stopped, recovery of tiger populations is possible. Despite the lack of evidence, there may still be a few (one to four) tigers left in the area, given the large contiguous habitat.” In Pakke, the situation is more heartening. Dutta adds, “A WII study in the 862 sq. km. reserve estimated tiger densities to be 1.15 per 100 sq. km. They sampled an area of 158 sq. km. with a total of 718 trap nights and obtained 10 tiger photos (four individually identified tigers). Cattle kills by tigers as well as other tiger signs are common. In Pakke, good protective mechanisms and management measures, including the involvement of the local Nishi community, has helped secure the reserve.”

A crucial tiger landscape block is also in the Brahmaputra flood plains that extend from the newly-designated Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, through the Karbi Anglong Hills to Intanki in the south. Kaziranga was once contiguous with Pakke in the north but the forests here have been replaced by agricultural fields. Intanki is further connected through fragmented forests to Balphakram National Park and forests in Myanmar. Another important tiger belt in the region is the Manas-Ripa Chirang-Buxa/Jaldapara-Gorumara-Singalila forest unit that extends right from West Bengal to Sikkim. Though some connectivity exists between some of these PAs, it is largely disrupted, thanks to the practice of grabbing forest lands with support from timber and wildlife trade mafias, who in turn are able to win protection from unscrupulous politicians.

Central Indian Landscape

The Central Indian Landscape comprises moist and dry deciduous forests including sal and teak. The stretch includes Kanha-Pench, Satpura-Melghat, Sanjay-Palamau, Navegaon-Indravati, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Ranthambhore-Kuno-Palpur, Tadoba, Simlipal and Saranda. This landscape is arguably home to the largest number of wild tigers on the planet.

The Kanha-Pench landscape is vital for tigers in Central India. Connecting corridors in Seoni and Wara tehsils are degraded and poaching for ‘bush meat’ is commonplace. This adversely affects carnivores. The Kanha Tiger Reserve’s buffer needs to be extended southwest in the tehsil of Baihar in Balaghat district. Dispersing tigers from Kanha and Bandhavgarh are reported in Mandla district and serve as a conduit for tiger populations of Eastern Madhya Pradesh to the Achanakmar Tiger Reserve. The Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve is part of the Maikal landscape. This newly-designated Achanakmar Tiger Reserve is a vital link in the Central Indian tiger heartland and its connectivity to Kanha offers great potential for the tiger population here.

The notification of Satpura as a tiger reserve is also a welcome step though this covers only part of the entire 25,000 sq. km. Satpura landscape. The Satpura-Melghat landscape has low tiger densities but if prey base and protection are increased, the tiger populations can recover. The forests in Betul-Hoshangabad-East Nimar, which sustain dispersing tigers from Satpura and Melghat, need strict protection to prevent loss of young adults. To Satpura’s northeast, the forests in Chindwara district must also be brought under the protective fold, since these could serve as a connecting link with the Maikal landscape (through the Pench-Kanha link). Kishor Rithe of the Satpuda Foundation suggests that some lesser-known areas are also critical tiger habitats: “There is connectivity between the Pench Tiger Reserves and TATR in Chandrapur district through Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary-Navegaon National Park. These must also be afforded strict protection. Similarly, a WII radio collar study has also shown that there is tiger movement between Pench and Kanha. Areas such as Rukhad in Madhya Pradesh that aid such movement must be notified as sanctuaries.”

The Palamau-Sanjay landscape is under great anthropogenic pressure. Not a single tiger sighting was recorded in Palamau during the Phase I survey of the Wildlife Institute of India. Based on spatial occupancy data, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has suggested a low tiger density ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 per 100 sq. km. Naxalites and varied armed gangs control much of the forest, making it extremely difficult for the forest department to function. Timber and wildlife poaching help to finance insurrectionists. Apart from working with local people and habitat restoration, the immediate short-term need is to deploy armed protection forces to regain control of the reserve. This landscape has lost its connectivity to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, which must be restored so that the spillover population can move to new territories. Equally under threat due to insurgency is the Navegaon-Indravati landscape. Here, connecting corridors with Kanha-Pench and Tadoba are in disarray and need urgent restoration. Indravati is also connected with tiger-occupied forests in northern Andhra Pradesh and western Orissa.

Relatively isolated tiger populations exist in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Panna, Ranthambhore-Kuno-Palpur-Madhav, Tadoba-Andhari, Simlipal and Saranda National Park. Along with Melghat, Pench and Nagzira, the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve presents the tiger with its best chance of survival in the Central Indian belt. On Tadoba’s southern and eastern sides lie the Reserve Forests of the Chandrapur Territorial Division and to its north and northeastern side, it is buffered by the forests of the Brahmapuri division. This is the scene of considerable man-animal conflict and its handmaiden, poisoning of cattle kills. These forests need strict protection and the extended forests and their corridors should be included in the tiger reserves. The northwest boundary of the reserve, with a negligible buffer, is the most vulnerable. The NTCA has approved the declaration of the national parks and sanctuaries of TATR, Pench and Melghat (Ambabarwa, Narnala and Wan Sanctuaries) as critical tiger habitats. B. Majumdar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Maharashtra also stresses the importance of Chandoli and Koyna (comprising the newly-declared Sahyadri Tiger Reserve) and Navegaon and Nagzira for tigers.

In Orissa’s Simlipal Tiger Reserve, tigers have not been faring well. But this sizeable landscape, if well protected, can sustain a healthy tiger population. A poorly equipped forest force cannot cope with the persistent wildlife trade. Nevertheless, the area has the potential to be connected with the Saranda forests in Jharkhand, which would greatly enhance the prospects of survival for wildlife. Apart from the Simlipal landscape, the contiguous forest patches in Sonabeda-Udanti-Indravati also harbour tigers as do the Balimela and Kondakamberu Sanctuaries that extend from East Godavari, Khammam and Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The newly-declared Satkosia Tiger Reserve, also in Orissa, along with forests in the Baissipalli belt and adjoining reserved forests is home to over 500 elephants, apart from tigers (Sanctuary Vol. No. XXVIII, No.2, April 2008). Aditya Panda, Sanctuary-ABN AMRO Young Naturalist 2007 Award winner highlights the connectivity of this tiger reserve: “To the south, this area is directly connected to the Ghumusar North and South Reserved Forests and indirectly, through corridors, to the Nayagarh-Daspalla forests. The Satkosia reserve is also linked to forests of Western Orissa, including the Khalasuni-Badrani (Ushakoti) section. Ghumusar is further connected to Kondhmal, and the Dandakaranya forests at the junction of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh.” The Sitanadi and Udanti forest areas in Chattisgarh are contiguous with the Sunabeda-Khariar forests in the Nuapara district of Orissa, which constitute a vital tiger habitat. Sunabeda, which has a viable tiger population, healthy prey base, pristine forests and minimal human disturbances, has received 'in principle' approval as a tiger reserve from the NTCA.

The Western Ghats

The Western Ghats support prime tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forest habitats. The north-central Western Ghats habitat has a number of PAs such as Koyna, Radhanagari, Bhagwan-Mahaveer, Dandeli-Anshi, Bhadra, Kudremukh, Nagarahole-Bandipur, Silent Valley, Dr. Jayalalitha (Mudumalai), Eravikulum, Mukurthi and Bannerghatta. According to the NTCA report, the Nagarahole-Bandipur-Mudumalai-Wynaad landscape has around 190 to 230 tigers – the single largest tiger population in India. This contiguous forest cover includes the Biligiri Rangaswami Temple Sanctuary and the Cauvery Sanctuary. Along with Kudremukh and Bhadra, which is also linked to forests in Maharashtra, the combined tiger population in the entire Western Ghats landscape, spread over three states and parts of Maharasthra would be between 350 and 400. In Nagarahole, a high prey density combined with effective conservation strategies has allowed the tiger population to thrive. The Nagarahole-Bandipur belt has an extremely high tiger density (8 to 15 per 100 sq. km.). However, Sanjay Gubbi, Assistant Director (Conservation Science, Policy and Outreach), Wildlife Conservation Society-India Programme says, “Poaching of ungulates for the pot and tigers for trade, timber smuggling, grazing are all some of the generic and continuous threats in these reserves.” The potential of the south-central Western Ghats needs to be explored further. This belt is connected through some degraded forests to the Periyar Tiger Reserve, but this tentative connectivity is subject to considerable poaching. In the southern Western Ghats, Periyar-Agasthyamalai-Kalakad is well-protected though connecting corridors to the north must be prioritised for restoration and protection.  

The Eastern Ghats

The tropical dry and moist deciduous forests of the Eastern Ghats landscape were once well connected to the Chotta Nagpur Plateau. Tiger populations in northern Andhra Pradesh are part of the larger Indravati landscape that extends to Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Orissa. Though this habitat faces a number of threats, it still has some large remnant forest patches including the largest tiger reserve in India – Nagarajunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR). This, along with the Tirupati forest block, holds great potential. There is also a third forest block in the tehsils of Kanigiri, Baduel, Udayagiri and Giddalur. However, connectivity between these three forest blocks must be restored to ensure the future of the tiger here. The source population of tigers in Srisailam can be improved by enhancing prey base and improving protection, both against villagers who kill animals for meat and those who are in league with the wildlife trade. If this effort is successful, spillover tiger populations could help repopulate the Tirupati forest block. Unfortunately, tigers and other wildlife in the state face a number of threats, including the A.P. State  Highway Project. Asif Siddiqui of HYTICOS suggests that Gundla Brameshwaram that is contiguous to NSTR and spread across 1,200 sq. km. be brought under the tiger reserve.

The Sundarbans

Possibly the most famous, yet the most isolated population of tigers in India, is to be found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, a forest that gifted the species with the name royal Bengal tiger. Stretching across both West Bengal and Bangladesh, tigers here are under great anthropogenic pressure. Climate change-caused habitat changes present even greater challenges in the future. These many years, isolation from humans has been able to protect tigers. However, overfishing, prawn seed collection and a variety of other ‘developmental’ pressures threaten this tigerland. One of the world’s finest breeding habitats for marine species, our failure to protect the Sundarbans will have serious repercussions on India’s food security.

Conclusion

The tiger is in trouble across its range in India. The successes of the 1970s and 1980s exemplified by Protected Areas such as Corbett, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Nagarahole, Periyar and Kaziranga, where early prescriptions for wildlife protection are still in force – have been sharply reversed in recent years in habitats such as Palamau, Buxa, Simlipal and Namdapha. A prime reason is the destruction of forests for short-term economic gains. This has been coupled with habitat losses triggered by politicians, who continue to exhort people to grab lands in exchange for votes, poaching and organised wildlife crime. Forest corridor protection in conjunction with the restoration of core areas, coupled with the enhancement of prey base outside PAs is vital to the long-term survival of tigers across their range. Equally important is the need to win international cooperation with bordering countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan, through the creation of International Peace Parks that could help secure the future of Panthera tigris.

As has been highlighted in Sanctuary
Vol. XXVII, No. 4, August 2007, protecting and restoring health to tiger and other wildlife habitats is probably our best option to counter the threat from climate change because such restoration would automatically serve to sequester carbon from the atmosphere for long-term storage as above and below ground biomass in our forests. Seen in this light, our continued national apathy towards tigers is closely linked to the climate crisis that could overwhelm us. Our penchant for ignoring early warning signals has caused the nation enough damage. If we allow the tiger population to slip to an even lower level, if we falter once again and defer from taking strong action, neither the tiger nor the people of the Indian subcontinent are likely to recover.

India’s Tiger Reserves

1. Corbett, Uttarakhand: Severe habitat degradation to the south of Corbett, overcrowding by resorts blocking movement of elephants, roadkills, colonisation by Lantana camara, forest fires, dynamiting to kill fish, industries in Rudrapur and Kashipur, illegal encroachments and the irrigation colony in Kalagarh.
   
2. Dudhwa, Uttar Pradesh: Poaching, forest fires, retaliatory killings, siltation of grasslands, which are the prime habitat of the barasingha and human-animal conflict.
   
3. Valmiki, Bihar: Biotic disturbances due to the 140 villages located in and around the reserve, which are dependent on forest resources, perennial inundation in Madanpur range due to the construction of a rail embankment inside the reserve, lack of buffer area or operational safety zone around the reserve to reduce the impact of human activities and lack of road network, vehicles and manned checkposts.
   
4. Namdapha, Arunachal Pradesh: Poaching, skeletal forest department staff, lack of protection infrastructure, low motivation, lack of effective patrolling, low prey base (here, the tiger also feeds on mountain ungulates such as takin, serow and goral). Sustained efforts to work with the local Lisu tribe is vital to ensure that poachers from across the border can be apprehended and to help stop hunting within the community while equipping them with other livelihood options.
   
5. Pakke (Pakhui), Arunachal Pradesh: Local hunting, fishing using dynamite, poisoning of elephants and encroachments. However, these have declined in recent years following the formation of a committee comprising village heads.
   
6. Kaziranga, Assam: Poaching, seasonal floods, the NH-37 highway on the northern side that prevents animals from crossing over to the hills, encroachment along the periphery, loss of forest and grassland habitat, water pollution due to pesticide run-off from tea gardens, a petroleum refinery at Numaligarh and growth of invasive species such as Mimosa.
   
7. Manas, Assam: Paucity of funds leading to delays in paying staff and implementing steps for habitat management , lack of adequate equipment and vehicles and vacant field posts. The Bodo Territorial Council has been doing a commendable job and several poachers have surrendered in the recent past.
   
8. Nameri, Assam: Human-wildlife conflict, particularly with regard to elephants, rapid conversion of habitat to agriculture, human encroachment and poaching. It is also one of the 168 sites selected for a large-scale hydroelectric power project.
   
9. Dampa, Mizoram: Jhooming practices, fuelwood collection, timber operations, roads, quarrying and hydroelectric projects.
   
10. Kanha, Madhya Pradesh: Tiger-centric tourism policies that provide few benefits to locals, anthropogenic pressure from the 18 villages inside the national park, including illicit cutting of bamboo poles in the buffer zone, deforestation and forest fires. Dozens of steel traps and injured tigers have been found in Kanha over the past couple of years.
    
11. Pench, Madhya Pradesh: An important link between tiger habitats to the west and south (Melghat) and to the east (Kanha and Nagzira), fishing in the reservoir is the main threat here. Fishermen also indulge in poaching and are also responsible for forest fires. With the Pench river running dry, the Pench hydroelectric dam is one more wasted mega-project. The fish mafias are now trying to pressurise the government to amend the WPA to allow fishing rights in Protected Areas.
    
12. Pench, Maharashtra: The reserve lacks a suitable buffer area. The adjoining area of Mansinghdev must be notified as a sanctuary and be connected
    to Pench. The Totladoh irrigation department’s settlement must be vacated and handed back to the forest department.
    
13. Bori-Satpura, Madhya Pradesh: Several villages lie within and outside the reserve. Herbivore density is low due to the encroachment and degradation of the meadows. Inadequate and aged field staff and lack of equipment hamper effective monitoring. Plans to ply luxury houseboats and build lodges could also harm the reserve. Pachmarhi is already facing the brunt of religious and commercial tourism. After the successful resettlement of Dhain village, several other villages situated in Bori Sanctuary are demanding to expedite the resettlement process.
    
14. Melghat, Maharashtra: Forest fires, illegal grazing, collection of non-timber forest produce such as tendu leaves, mahua and musli, quarrying, road-widening projects and spread of Lantana camara and Hyptis sauveolens add to the list of problems. The Chikaldhara Pumped Storage Project on the boundary of the reserve could drown over 100 ha. of the tiger’s habitat, while the Upper Tapi Stage II Project could drown 244 ha. of the reserve and an additional 1,673 ha. of forest land outside, including a part of the denotified portion of the Melghat Sanctuary. The denotification of 532 sq. km. of tiger forest from Melghat Sanctuary in 1994 has proved detrimental to both tigers and tribals. The tiger population has declined from 22 (in 1994) to merely two in 2008 in the denotified area, while the human population in the 39 villages has increased.
    
15. Tadoba-Andhari, Maharashtra: Human Irrigation Project, forest encroachment, increasing human-wildlife conflict with retaliatory tiger killings, illegal extraction of bamboo, grazing and forest fires. As many as 53 villages lie within five kilometres of its borders and five villages exist inside.
    
16. Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh: Bauxite mining in the Maikal ranges, coal mining in the Umaria corridor, poaching, heavy tourist influx, urbanisation of Tala village, flyash dumping in the Johila river and degradation of the corridor between the  Bandhavgarh and Sanjay Reserves.
    
17. Sanjay, Madhya Pradesh: Encroachments and human-wildlife conflict.
    
18. Panna, Madhya Pradesh: Poaching, loss of habitat, illegal fishing, illicit removal of timber and other forest products, widespread grazing, national highway through the reserve causing road kills and diamond mining.
    
19. Ranthambhore, Rajasthan: Poaching, illegal grazing, fuelwood collection, religious and commercial tourism, encroachment and lack of connecting corridors. All the tigers are concentrated in the national park area. The Keladevi Sanctuary, which is part of the reserve, has 42 villages within its boundary, little habitat and virtually no prey base.
    
20. Sariska, Rajasthan: Poaching, anthropogenic pressure and lack of connecting corridors. Sariska
    still has good potential tiger habitat and a high density of large ungulates. According to recent reports, the management has taken strong steps to apprehend poachers, improve patrolling and work out relocation packages. The PMO’s office has approved the
    plan to reintroduce tigers here. Forest blocks in Alwar Division and the Jamva Ramgarh Sanctuary in Jaipur must be revived. There are also other possible corridors in Bundi, Kota, Chittorgarh, Udaipur and Sirohi.
    
21. Simlipal, Orissa: Four villages are located in the core and 61 in the buffer. The local tribals engage in an annual ruthless hunting ritual called Akhanda Shikar where any animal in sight is killed by hordes of tribals. The regular trapping of deer, wild pig, fowl and hare and rampant cattle grazing has resulted in drastic decline in prey base and therefore, predator population. Irresponsible, unregulated tourism, commercial poaching of elephants and timber smuggling add to the woes.
    
22. Satkosia, Orissa: There are around 106 villages in the reserve, five of them in the core. Organised poaching by the wildlife and timber mafia is a serious threat due to the porous southern and eastern boundaries of the park, which are easily accessible through the Mahanadi. The NH-42 and the Rengali canal have badly affected tiger and elephant movement between Satkosia and Simlipal.
    
23. Sundarbans, West Bengal: Deforestation, oil pollution, overfishing, prawn seed collection, reclamation, poaching, proposed nuclear reactors, proposal for international steamer channel, thermal plant, oil and gas exploration. The reserve and its wild denizens will also be one of the first to bear the brunt of climate change.
    
24. Buxa, West Bengal: Several tea estates in the vicinity exert a great deal of biotic pressure. Dolomite mining has caused great damage. Poaching of wildlife as well as timber, firewood removal, illicit grazing, boulder removal from river and electric fencing also harm wildlife. Demographic pressures are also huge here.
    
25. Palamau, Jharkhand: Naxalites, poaching, mining, alienation of locals, increasing
    human-wildlife conflict, illicit felling of khair and teak and unfilled forest department vacancies.
    
26. Achanakmar, Chattisgarh: The forest is periodically ravaged by fires set by cattle grazers. The presence of 22 villages inside the park, most of them in the core, makes poaching, illegal woodcutting and grazing difficult to keep in check. The Bilaspur-Amarkantak highway cuts through the park.
    
27. Indravati, Chattisgarh: Naxalites have control over much of the reserve and forest guards have not entered the reserve since 2002. No assessments have been possible in the recent past regarding the tiger population.
    
28. Udanti, Chattisgarh: Quarries, diamond mining, clearing of forested habitat for agriculture, shifting cultivation, encroachments, habitat degradation, grazing, forest fires and collection of non timber forest produce.
    
29. Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh: The recently concluded census suggests the presence of 30-40 tigers here. Clearance for uranium exploration bordering the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, large scale habitat degradation and tremendous pressure from humans in and around the reserve are the main threats. The 24 villages in the core must be relocated. There is also illegal entry into the reserve from the porous borders of Nalgonda, Guntur and Prakasham. 
    
30. Bandipur, Karnataka: Two major roads (Mysore-Ooty and Mysore-Calicut) cut through this reserve and plans to upgrade both these to high-speed roads are on the anvil. Another highway is planned on the border of the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, which will affect wildlife movement between Nagarhole and Bandipur. Livestock grazing is a serious concern. Scientific studies have shown that it is linked to the international coffee market, which increases the demand for dung from this area to be used as organic manure in coffee plantations. Uncontrolled tourism, bad management practices such as setting of fires as a management tool and needless habitat damage from a variety of manipulations, including bulldozer-made trenches in the name of water harvesting, etc. also affect wildlife. Many poaching cases are also being detected.
    
31. Bhadra, Karnataka: Though past model relocation projects are yielding results and animal numbers are rebounding, the proposed Upper Bhadra and Tegargudda dams, two microhydel projects and windmills to be set up on the Bababudangiri hills pose grave threats to this reserve. The proposed windmills will cut off the habitat contiguity to other reserved forests. Mining at Hogarekan that provides a buffer to the reserve can cause serious damage to the sensitive shola forests. Four mini-hydel projects are planned in the Ecological Sensitive Area of the reserve. Timber smuggling on the northern side, poaching of ungulates for the pot, the mushrooming resorts in the buffer zone and official ecotourism inside the park are also serious concerns.
    
32. Anshi-Dandeli, Karnataka: Fragmentation is a serious issue here. Six large and small dams, four hydel-power generation units and three major diversion tunnels, along with highways are within the reserves. Construction of the Aghanashini dam and one mini-hydel project have been planned. Large-scale extraction of non-timber forest produce and grazing also cause serious disturbances. The area is yet to recover from the timber extractions done in the past for paper and pulpwood industries that were set up here in the 1960s and mining activities that were carried till the late 90s. Poaching for commercial trade seems to be scaling, recently 43 otter, 23 leopard and one tiger pelts were confiscated from this area. Unlike in southern Karnataka, there is hardly any tradition of carrying out serious anti-poaching activities here, with very few cases being detected as a result. A proposal to add over 300 sq. km. of fine forests, if implemented, will greatly enhance this reserves’ value. There is still no concept of conservation management in the reserve and the forest department needs to understand the importance of patrolling and anti-poaching activities. 
    
33. Periyar, Kerala: The reserve has been doing well and community-involvement has been greater. However, if the height of the dam is increased, as Tamil Nadu has been demanding, it could submerge flat grazing land, including mudbanks. Pilgrims to the Sabarimala temple also place tremendous pressure on the reserve. Other threats include illegal ganja cultivation, unruly tourists and spread of exotics. The Cumbum and Varshnad valleys, including the mountain stretch between them, must be brought into the Protected Area network together with the proposed Meghamalai Sanctuary.
    
34. Kalakad-Mundanthurai, Tamil Nadu: Biotic pressure due to colonies of the State Electricity Board, tea companies, tribal hamlets, cattle grazing, timber poaching and the presence of private estates. The border with Kerala on the western side is vulnerable to illegal entry and activities.
    
35. Mudumalai, Tamil Nadu: The proposed multi-dam Pandiar Punnapuzha Hydroelectric Project at Gudalur near Ooty poses the greatest threat to the reserve. Around 160 to 175 ha. of the Avarahalla Reserve Forest that is part of the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary would be submerged apart from the forest area that would be required for the construction of roads, dam and the power house. It would particularly affect elephant movement in the region. Other threats include exotics, anthropogenic pressures, poaching, degradation, biotic pressures, uncontrolled tourism and extraction for medicinal purposes.
    
36. Parambikulam-Anamalai, Tamil Nadu: Conversion of forest into tea and coffee estates, several large plantations, pesticide run-off and human-wildlife conflict.
    Additionally, the NTCA has given ‘in principle’ approval for four additional tiger reserves: Sunabeda in Orissa, Sahyadri in Maharashtra, Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh. The Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka, earlier a part of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, will be considered as a separate reserve.