Prelims: Environment –National Parks, Tiger Reserves, Kanha Tiger Reserve, Kanha National Park
Mains: General Studies 3- Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
Why in News
A male tiger from the Kanha Tiger Reserve has been relocated to Mukundpur tiger safari
Key Facts 🗝️
- Barasingha is flagship species of Kanha National Park.
- It is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh.
About
Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR)/ Kanha National Park
- Part of Kanha National park (Largest in MP), made Tiger Reserve in 1973
- Location: Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh, Maikal range of Satpuras.
- The forest is depicted in the famous novel by Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book.
- first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot, “Bhoorsingh the Barasingha”
- Flora: mixture of sal and other mixed forest trees interspersed with meadows.
- Forests are tropical moist dry deciduous type and of a completely different nature with bamboo on slopes
- Fauna:
- Royal Bengal Tiger, leopards, the sloth bear and Indian wild dog.
- The Park is respected globally for saving the Barasingha from near extinction.
Barasingha (Swamp Deer)
- Habitat – open forests and grasslands of India and Nepal, now restricted to isolated and scattered locations in Nepal, Assam and the northern areas of India.
- Food – wetland plants and herbaceous plants which are common in this deer’s natural habitat.
- Currently Extinct in both Bangladesh, and in Pakistan
- Conservation status
- IUCN – Vulnerable
- CITES – Appendix I
- The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 – Schedule I
Source: TOI
UPSC CSE Exams Corner
Prelims: PYQ related to Topic
Q. Which one of the following protected areas is well-known for the conservation of a sub-species of the Indian swamp deer (Barasinga) that thrives well in hard ground and is exclusively graminivorous ?
A) Kanha National Park
B) Manas National Park
C) Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary
D) Tal Chhapar Wildlife Sanctuary
Ans : a. Kanha National Park
