Tigers have chosen a beautiful place of nature in Madhya Pradesh

The most beautiful creature on earth is the tiger and tigers have their home in Madhya Pradesh. The people of Madhya Pradesh are proud of this fact. Just like India is proud of its 3682 tigers. This is 75% of the total number of tigers in the world. The happiest thing for Madhya Pradesh is that the number of tigers is increasing even outside the Tiger Reserve.

Today, on the occasion of International Tiger Day, Madhya Pradesh can tell the world that the people of Madhya Pradesh are proud of their tigers.

Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers

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. This increase is more than the total population of 257 in 2010.

With the tireless efforts of the Forest Department and the cooperation of the local people, the king of the jungle is safe. Let us all take a pledge to conserve nature for the future generations and as a kind-hearted gentleman, help in creating a favorable environment for the tiger family to flourish. The work of restoring tigers was a very difficult task, which Madhya Pradesh accomplished by working day and night.

This is how it became a Tiger State

Tigers are counted once every 4 years. If we look at the data of the number of tigers from the year 2006, then in the year 2010, the number of tigers had increased to 257. To increase this, high level protection of tigers and sensitive efforts were required. The hard work of making Madhya Pradesh a tiger state began.

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 crimes. Orphaned tiger cubs have been reintroduced. Various species, especially chital, gaur and barasingha, have been reintroduced to places where they were few in number or had become locally extinct. The state level strike force has arrested 550 wildlife criminals from 14 states in the last eight years. Three of these were foreigners.

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

Reasons for becoming a tiger state

There are four main aspects of Madhya Pradesh becoming a tiger state. First is scientific displacement of villages. From 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. The deer, bison and wild boar of Kanha were translocated and settled in other tiger reserves. This increased the food base for the tiger. The 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. The 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, rescuing them, finding the source of forest fire and gathering immediate information about its impact, averting the danger of possible human and animal conflict, and following wildlife protection law.

Due to wildlife protection, Madhya Pradesh is also at the forefront 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 leopard population in the country is in Madhya Pradesh alone.

Better management of national parks

In the year 2010, at the St. Petersburg Tiger Conference, 13 countries with tiger population had promised that they will double the population of tigers by the year 2022. In achieving this target, there was continuous and gradual improvement in the management of tigers in Madhya Pradesh.

The 33% increase in the number of tigers is the highest ever recorded between cycles, which was 21% between 2006 and 2010 and 30% between 2010 and 2014. The increase in the number of tigers was in line with the average annual growth rate of tigers since 2006. Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers at 526. This was followed by Karnataka with 524 tigers and Uttarakhand was at third place with 442 tigers. It is a matter of pride for Madhya Pradesh that it has achieved this feat much before the deadline of 2022.

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 villages have been displaced from the core area of ​​​​Kanha, Pench, and Kuno Palpur. More than 90 percent of the core area of ​​​​Satpura Tiger Reserve has also been freed from biological pressure. After displacement, grasslands of local species have been developed with the help of grass experts.