Karnataka to get 6th tiger reserve after winter session
BENGALURU: Soon after the winter session of the state legislature, Karnataka will get its sixth and most awaited tiger reserve — the Male Mahadeshwara (MM Hills) Wildlife Sanctuary. The long-pending demand of the state Forest Department, conservationists and experts is now taking shape. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had given its approval in July while the State Board for Wildlife had cleared it in 2018 itself.
“All the papers are in order and the proposal is ready to be placed before the cabinet for a Government Order. The declaration becomes important as the State Government has been dragging its feet due to political reasons. But it does not realise that declaring a tiger reserve means getting more funds and ensuring better wildlilfe protection. This is also the reason why neighbouring states are working and declaring more reserves.
“Every time the proposal came up, politicians would raise the Naxal issue in Kudremukh and MM Hills, and it would get sidelined. But now, with the tiger census approaching, declaring MM Hills a reserve will help. Besides, issuing a GO is just a formality as the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has already approved it,” sources in the forest department said.
Forest Department officials said it is also important as the State Government, in the budget, had announced the creation of Veerappan trails in the MM Hills region where the dreaded forest brigand once tread.
The MM Hills forests, spread across 90,618.75 hectares, is home to over 20 tigers and cubs and has sufficient space for the tiger population to thrive. The adjoining tiger habitats such as Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Satyamangalam Tiger Reserves act as an effective source-sink landscape for tiger and prey population. It is also part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which has the highest density of tigers, as per the NTCA in all tiger census reports.
The MM Hills are already a notified area of the Mysuru Elephant Reserve and, according to Forest Department estimates in 2010, the elephant density in the area is 5.05 per sqkm. The protected area spreads over 906.19 sqkm including Hanur Reserve Forest of 75 sqkm, Yediyarahalli Reserve Forest of 442.70 sqkm and Male Mahadeshwara Reserve Forest of 388.48 sqkm.