The State government is set to notify M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve any time now, with the Centre and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) clearing the decks for the final leg of the process. It was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but is expected this month.
Once notified, Chamarajanagar will have three tiger reserves, including the Bandipur and BRT reserves, which is a rare distinction for any district in the country.
The proposal to declare it a tiger reserve was approved by the State Board for Wildlife in January 2019 and was submitted for approval by the Forest Department in May 2019. However, the NTCA raised questions pertaining to the boundary of the core area in the northeastern portion of the proposed reserve.
It also called for delineating the area of religious tourism clearly. Hence, the proposal was reworked and submitted afresh in January this year. Now, the Centre and the NTCA have cleared it for notification. Sanjai Mohan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, told The Hindu that the official notification was a matter of administrative formality.
V. Yedukondalu, Deputy Conservator of Forests of M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, said if not for COVID-19, the notification would have come through by now. However, the formalities are expected to be completed in a week or so, he added.
M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary has about 20 tigers, as per the camera trap exercise results obtained from various forest ranges. But what is significant is that it is contiguous to other protected areas, including BRT Tiger Reserve, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, and Satyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, which have a combined spread of nearly 3,500 sq.km. With higher protection to the landscape, it is expected to act as a “sink” to absorb the tiger population and help increase their numbers, Mr. Yedukondalu said.
Major habitat
According to experts, there is potential for the forest region to emerge as another major tiger habitat comparable to the Bandipur-Nagarahole-Mudumalai-Wayanad landscape, which has been identified for supporting one of the highest tiger densities in the wild in the world.
Studies indicate that the landscape also supports around 300 elephants and the prey density is pegged at 5.05 animals per sq.km. M.M. Hills Tiger Reserve will be spread over 906.18 sq.km., with a core of 670.95 sq.km and a buffer zone of 235.19 sq.km.
There are 18 revenue enclosures in the M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary landscape, but they have been kept outside the tiger reserve boundary so that the rights and privileges of the locals are not affected, said Mr. Yedukondalu.