Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers, Supreme Court has praised the efforts of the Centre for tiger conservation

Bhopal. The Supreme Court has praised the Central Government for its efforts and success in tiger conservation yesterday and has expressed satisfaction over the fact that 75 percent of the world’s tigers are in India. The bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and PV Sanjay Kumar of the Supreme Court on Friday praised the Central Government and called it a “good work”. It is noteworthy that the number of tigers in the country has increased from 2226 in the year 2014 to 3682 now. In this, there has been a significant increase in the number of tigers in Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra.

The most happy thing for Madhya Pradesh is that the number of tigers is increasing even outside the Tiger Reserve. The population of tigers in Madhya Pradesh has increased from 526 to 785. This is the highest in the country. 259 tigers have increased in the state in four-five years. The task of restoring tigers was a very difficult one, which Madhya Pradesh accomplished by working day and night.

Tiger census is done once every 4 years. If we look at the data of tiger population from 2006, then in 2010, the number of tigers had reached 257. To increase this, high level protection and sensitive efforts of tigers were necessary.

For effective management of human-wildlife conflict, 16 regional rescue squads and district level rescue squads were formed in every district. For investigation of wildlife crimes, 16 expert dog squads were formed in the search of wildlife crime. In the last eight years, the state level strike force has arrested 550 criminals committing wildlife crimes from 14 states.

Budget arrangement was made for wildlife management outside the protected area. Income from wildlife tourism was shared with the local community. Due to all these efforts, efforts for tiger conservation got strengthened.

Reasons for becoming a tiger state

There are four main reasons for Madhya Pradesh becoming a tiger state. First is scientific displacement of villages. From the year 2010 to 2022, 200 small villages located in the tiger reserve were displaced. Maximum 75 villages were taken out of Satpura Tiger Reserve. Second is translocation. Barasingha, bison and wild boar of Kanha were translocated and settled in other tiger reserves. This increased the food base for the tiger. Third is habitat development. Grasslands and ponds were developed in the villages and fields that were vacated in the middle of the forest, which increased the number of herbivorous animals and also provided food for the tiger. There was an unprecedented change in the security system. Survey and monitoring was done with drones in Panna Tiger Reserve. Illegal hunting was completely stopped by controlling wildlife crime. Use of technology was increased in crime investigation and patrolling. The best example of this is Panna Tiger Reserve which has its own drone squad. Every month a monthly action plan is prepared for its operation. This is helping in finding the location of wild animals, protecting them, finding the source of forest fire and gathering immediate information about its impact, averting the danger of possible human-animal conflict, following the wildlife protection law.

Due to wildlife protection, Madhya Pradesh is also leading in the country in the number of leopards. There are 12 thousand 852 leopards in the country. This number is more than 4100 in Madhya Pradesh alone. The population of leopards in the country has increased by an average of 60% while in the state it is 80%. 25% of the number of leopards in the country is in Madhya Pradesh alone.

Better management of national parks

Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers at 526. After this, Karnataka had 524 tigers and Uttarakhand was at third place with 442 tigers. Better management of national parks has a major role in increasing the number of tigers in the state. With the help of the state government, more than 50 villages have been displaced and a large area has been freed from biological pressure. As a result of displacement of villages from protected areas, the habitat area of ​​​​wildlife has expanded.

All the villages have been displaced from the core areas of Kanha, Pench, and Kuno Palpur. More than 90 percent of the core area of ​​​​the Satpura Tiger Reserve has also been freed from biological pressure. Along with achieving the status of Tiger State, Madhya Pradesh also achieved the top position in the country in effective management of national parks and protected areas. Satpura Tiger Reserve has been included in the tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage.

According to the Effectiveness Assessment Report of Management of Tiger Reserves of the Government of India, Pench Tiger Reserve has achieved the highest rank in the country. Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Sanjay and Satpura Tiger Reserves have been considered as the best managed tiger reserves. Unique management plans and innovative methods have been adopted in these national parks.