Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, announced the notification of the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh as the 56th tiger reserve in India. The reserve, covering a vast area of 2,829 square kilometers, is now the third-largest in the country.
In a post shared on social media platform X, Shri Yadav highlighted the significance of this milestone in India’s ongoing efforts to conserve its tiger population. He stated, “As India continues to achieve new milestones in tiger conservation, we have notified Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla in Chhattisgarh as the 56th tiger reserve.”
The new tiger reserve spans multiple districts in Chhattisgarh, including Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Korea, Surajpur, and Balrampur. It consists of a core area of 2,049.2 square kilometers, which includes the Guru Ghasidas National Park and the Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as a buffer zone of 780.15 square kilometers. This makes it the third-largest tiger reserve in India, following the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh and the Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam.
The establishment of this reserve follows the guidance of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and is part of a broader landscape approach to wildlife conservation. The Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve is linked to the Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, forming a conservation complex spanning nearly 4,500 square kilometers. Additionally, it connects to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh to the west and the Palamau Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand to the east.
The reserve is situated in the Chota Nagpur and Baghelkhand plateaus, known for their diverse terrain, dense forests, and numerous streams and rivers, making it an ideal habitat for tigers and other wildlife. The area is home to a rich variety of fauna, including 753 species, with 230 species of birds and 55 species of mammals. Among these are several threatened species, underscoring the ecological importance of the reserve.
This new notification brings the total number of tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh to four, further strengthening the state’s contribution to tiger conservation efforts in India. The National Tiger Conservation Authority continues to provide technical and financial support to enhance conservation efforts under Project Tiger.
