Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

In News

Recently, the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) has recovered the decomposed flesh of a tiger from the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

About the Reserve

• It is located in the Lakhimpur-Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh with an area of 614 sq km.
• It is one of the finest examples of the exceedingly diverse and productive Terai eco-systems.
  • Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is composed of 14 Indian and Nepalese trans-border protected ecosystems of the Terai and nearby foothills of the Himalayas and encompassing 14 protected areas of Nepal and India.
  • It has an area of approximately 12.3 million acres and includes Nepal’s Bagmati River to the east and India’s Yamuna River to the west.
• The northern edge of the reserve is marked by the river Mohana which lies along the Indo-Nepal border while the southern boundary is marked by the river Suheli.
• It is home to a large number of rare and endangered species, which include tiger, leopard, swamp deer, hispid hare, Bengal floricans, etc.
• It comprises three protected areas of Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Dudhwa National Park.

(Image Courtesy: WPSI)

History

• 1965: It was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary.
• 1977: It was declared a National Park.
• 1987-88: It became a part of Project Tiger and was made a Tiger Reserve.

Flora

• Northern Tropical Semi-Evergreen Forest, Northern Moist Deciduous Forests, Damar Sal Forests, Moist Bhabar Sal, Western light and Alluvial Plains Sal, Chandar Sal, Terminalia tomentosa Forests, Low Alluvial Savannah Woodland, Dry Plain Sal Forests, Moist Sal Savannah Forests, Tropical Seasonal Swamp Forests, Khair Sissoo Forests, plantations of exotic and indigenous species.

Fauna

• It is the only place in the country to hold a potentially viable population of the nominate subspecies of the northern swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli duvauceli).
• It is also home to a sizable tiger population and some Critically Endangered species such as the Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) and Hispid Hare (Caprolagus hispidus).
• It is also the place where the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros was successfully reintroduced in the year 1984.
• Thirteen species of mammals, nine species of birds, and eleven species of reptiles and amphibians found here are considered to be “Endangered” in the IUCN Red List and are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Concerns in the Reserve

• Grazing of livestock and human encroachment.
• Wild animals frequently destroy crops and kill livestock so they are often killed in retaliation.
• Poaching and smuggling.
• Occasional forest fires.
• Weeds cause a far larger threat. Some grasslands are badly infested and dense exotic mats have formed in large portions of the forests.

Source: TOI