Maaharashtra gets its fourth tiger reserve
Mumbai: The state government has finally issued a notification of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Western Maharashtra. It is now the fourth tiger reserve in the state after Melghat, Tadoba-Andhari and Pench and the 40th in the country.
The efforts to form a new tiger reserve began two years back when Kishor Rithe, president of Satpuda Foundation, an NGO working for forest and wildlife conservation in central India, mooted the idea.
The forest is an ideal tiger habitat and a fit case to be declared a critical tiger habitat. We decided to form a reserve combining Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary, said Rithe.
The National Tiger Conservation Authoritys (NTCA) nod came at a meeting held on May 21, 2008, along with the creation of three other tiger reserves in the country Sunabeda in Orissa, Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh. Also, the authority decided to treat Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka as a tiger reserve.
A three-member expert committee comprising the then principal chief conservator of forests, wildlife, B Majumdar, chief conservator of forests Nand Kishore and Kishor Rithe was formed for identification and delineation of critical tiger habitat under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The committee proposed to declare four areas Sahyadri, Tadoba, Pench and Melghat as critical tiger habitats on December 30, 2007.
source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_maaharashtra-gets-its-fourth-tiger-reserve_1331393