Two tiger reserves in Tamil Nadu earn the Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS) title, for conservation and management of tigers, as 12 other reserves in the country also bag the title. Mudumalai and Anamalai Tiger Reserves have received the global elite tag for best tiger conservation, located at Pollachi near Coimbatore and Nilgiris, respectively. Reportedly, Anamalai is home to 20 tigers while at Mudumalai the number is 103.
Launched by the global coalition of Tiger Range Countries (TRCs), it is a set of standards for effective management and assessment of management practices for effective conservation of the target species.
Anamalai Tiger Reserve is one of the largest landscapes stretching over 958.59 sq. km and grassland rising to 2400m and spilling over the Western Ghats into Kerala between Kodaikanal and Coimbatore. The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is spread over 321 sq. km and it plays an important role by forming part of Nilgiris Biosphere reserve.
Mudumalai and Anamalai Tiger Reserves of Tamil Nadu earn the global elite title of CATS, along with 12 others in the country | Image: Sathyamoorthy M
K K Kaushal, field director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) said that there has not been any organized poaching in the last decade. The reserve has a well-protected, naturally endowed biodiversity hotspot with a good prey population of spotted deer and gaurs.
Only 14 reserves made through the accreditation exercise by India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under CATS, including Parambikulam in Kerala, Bandipur in Karnataka, and Manas, Kaziranga and Orang in Assam. Surprisingly, other well-known reserves like Corbett, Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh did not get the tag.
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I. Anwardeen, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) Coimbatore circle, now posted as APCCF Working Plan, Chennai, said;
It’s an exercise that helps us improve and ensures that we don’t fall behind in any parameters defined by tiger conservation experts. The performance of the institution has been assessed based on certain indicators. We have been doing well because of a concerted, holistic, conservation-centric activity continued over the years.
A recent tiger census revealed that India has 2,967 individuals, which is 70 percent of the entire world’s tiger population. Contrarily, there was a time when around 50,000 tigers roamed the forests across the country.
While the numbers have dwindle drastically since a couple of decades, attaining a CATS title might inspire these tiger sanctuaries and others to do well for tiger protection and help increase their populations.
Via: The Hindu