Context:
Rajasthan has acquired its 5th tiger reserve as National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) gave its final approval to Dholpur-Karauli Reserve.
Tiger Reserves (TRs):
- Notified by – State Governments on the advice of NTCA
- Act – Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972.
- They are considered as critical for tiger conservation
- 2 parts –
- Core or critical tiger habitat: National Park or Sanctuary status
- Buffer or peripheral area: A lesser degree of habitat protection is required
- When notified by Rajasthan Government, total number of TRs in India will become 54.
About DKTR:
- Karauli-Sarmathura-Dholpur Sanctuary – Officially designated as Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve
- Other 4 Tiger Reserves in Rajasthan – Ranthambore, Sariska, Mukundra Hills and Ramgarh Vishdhari
About NTCA:
- Constituted in 2006 under WPA, 1972.
- HQ – New Delhi
- Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC)
- Chairperson – Minister in charge of MoEFCC
- Functions –
- Conducts All India Tiger Estimation
- Creates Annual Plan of Operations of TR
- Lay down normative standards for tourism activities
- Provide for measures for addressing conflicts of men and wild animal.
Initiatives to protect Tiger:
- Project Tiger (1973)
- Tiger Conservation Plan and Tiger Conservation Foundation – Prepared by the state government under WPA for tiger reserve management.
- TRAFFIC –
- Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network
- Joint program of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- Facilitates improvements in India’s anti-poaching efforts.
- M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers Intensive-Protection & Ecological Status): An android app for monitoring.
- Project ‘E-Bird Technology for Tiger Conservation’: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as a Surveillance and Monitoring tool.
- Conservation Genetics: Used in low tiger density areas to detect tiger presence.
Click here to read more about Tiger and Tiger Census
Source: Economic Times
Previous Year Question
Consider the following protected areas:
1. Bandipur
2. Bhitarkanika
3. Manas
4. Sunderbans
Which of the above are declared Tiger Reserves?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2012 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (b)
