Bhopal: Good news for wildlife lovers and tourists in Madhya Pradesh: All six tiger reserves located across the state will allow visitors from October 1. MP’s tigers reserves were shut for three months due to monsoons.
Officials in Madhya Pradesh Forest Department said that the preparations for reopening tiger reserves are complete. Stretches that were damaged due to heavy rains have been revamped in all tiger reserves.
Out of 52 tigers reserves in India, six of them are located in Madhya Pradesh. Known as tiger state with 526 big cats in its reserves, the state sees a large number of visitors every year.
“Tiger reserves were closed for three months due to heavy rain in Madhya Pradesh. They will will reopen for visitors from October 1,” said a wildlife official in Bhopal.
Kanha Tiger Reserve is located in Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, which is the one of the oldest reserves is located in Rewa. Similarly, Satpura Tiger Reserve, which is known for number of species of wild animals and birds, is located in Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) district.
Pench Tiger Reserve is located in Chhindwara and Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh and also share the forest area of neighbouring Maharashtra (Nagpur).
Panna Tigers reserve is located in Chhatar and Panna districts. It also close to MP’s only Hill station Pachmarhi. Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve is located in dense forests of Sidhi district and it connect with neighbouring Chhattisgarh’s forest area.
Besides these, Madhya Pradesh also has as many as 10 national parks including Kuno, where eight Namibian cheetahs were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17.
Other than the highest number of tigers – 526 (according to Tiger Census in 2018), Madhya Pradesh is also known for highest number of Leopards – 3,421 – in different sanctuaries across the state.
There are 25 wildlife sancturies in Madhya Pradesh and 30 per cent area of the state is reserve under forest zone.
As per the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, the state is home to 526 tigers, the highest for any state in the country. However, Madhya Pradesh also registers maximum number of death of wild animals almost every year.
(IANS)
