{"id":111038,"date":"2026-07-02T22:20:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=111038"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:20:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:50:42","slug":"kudremukh-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/kudremukh-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Kudremukh National Park, Location, Biodiversity, Major Rivers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Kudremukh National Park <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is one of India\u2019s most ecologically significant protected areas, located in the Central Western Ghats of Karnataka. It is renowned for its rich biodiversity, unique shola-grassland ecosystem, critical watershed functions and landmark contribution to India\u2019s environmental conservation history.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Kudremukh National Park<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Location<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The Kudremukh National Park is situated at the tri-junction of Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in Karnataka, forming part of the Central <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/western-ghats\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Western Ghats<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Origin of Name<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The park derives its name from <\/span><b>Kudremukh Peak (1,894 m)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the second-highest peak in Karnataka after <\/span><b>Mullayanagiri<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The mountain resembles the face of a horse, giving rise to the name <\/span><b>Kudremukh<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (\u201cHorse Face\u201d). It was historically known as <\/span><b>Samseparvata<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Legal Status<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The region was<\/span><b> notified as a Reserved Forest in 1916<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and was <\/span><b>declared a National Park in 1987<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> following biodiversity surveys that highlighted its exceptional ecological value, particularly its <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/lion-tailed-macaque\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Lion-tailed Macaque<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> population.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Area and Landscape<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Spread across 600.32 sq. km, Kudremukh is one of the largest protected tropical evergreen forest landscapes in the Western Ghats. The altitude ranges from nearly 100 metres to 1,894 metres, creating remarkable habitat diversity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The park <\/span><b>falls within the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and has been recognised under the <\/span><b>Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I Landscape.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Kudremukh National Park Geographical and Hydrological Importance<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kudremukh National Park functions as one of the most important watershed landscapes of Peninsular India and is often referred to as the <\/span><b>\u201cWater Tower of Karnataka.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Source of Major Rivers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The Gangamoola Hills within the park are the origin of the Tunga, Bhadra and Netravathi rivers, making the park crucial for Karnataka\u2019s water security.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Contribution to River System<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s: The Tunga and Bhadra rivers flow eastwards and merge to form the Tungabhadra, a major tributary of the <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/krishna-river-system\/\" target=\"_blank\">Krishna River<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while the Netravathi flows westwards into the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/arabian-sea\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Arabian Sea<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Support to Multiple Drainage Systems<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Several smaller rivers, including the Gurupura, Swarna, Seethanadhi and Yenehole, also originate here, highlighting the park\u2019s role in sustaining both coastal and interior river basins.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Water Security<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: These rivers provide drinking water, irrigation and ecological services to large parts of coastal Karnataka and the <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/deccan-plateau\/\" target=\"_blank\">Deccan Plateau<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Forest Ecosystem<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The park comprises tropical wet evergreen forests, shola forests, montane grasslands and moist deciduous forests, representing one of the least disturbed ecosystems in the Western Ghats.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Kudremukh National Park Biodiversity\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kudremukh National Park is one of the richest biodiversity landscapes in the Western Ghats and forms an integral part of one of the world\u2019s globally recognised biodiversity hotspots.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mammalian Diversity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The park supports the world\u2019s largest contiguous population of the endangered Lion-tailed Macaque, besides housing tigers, leopards, dholes, gaurs, sloth bears, Malabar giant squirrels and sambar deer.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Bird Diversity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Nearly 200 bird species have been recorded, including endemic species such as the Malabar Trogon, Malabar Whistling Thrush and Imperial Pigeon.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kudremukh serves as an important wildlife corridor connecting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/bhadra-tiger-reserve\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Bhadra Tiger Reserve<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and protected areas such as Someshwara, Mookambika, Pushpagiri, Talacauvery, Brahmagiri and Nagarahole, facilitating movement of elephants, tigers and other wildlife.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Kudremukh Mining Controversy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL), a Government of India PSU, was granted a 30-year mining lease in 1969 to extract low-grade magnetite iron ore. Even after the area was declared a National Park in 1987, mining continued, leading to forest degradation, habitat fragmentation and siltation of the Bhadra river system. In the landmark T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India case, the <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/supreme-court-of-india\/\" target=\"_blank\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ordered a phased closure of mining, directed KIOCL to deposit \u20b925 crore for ecological restoration, and prohibited all mining after 31 December 2005. Mining finally ceased on 1 January 2006, making the case a landmark in India\u2019s environmental jurisprudence that reinforced the primacy of conservation over commercial interests and upheld the <\/span><b>Polluter Pays Principle<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kudremukh National Park is a biodiversity hotspot in Karnataka known for rich wildlife, major river origins, unique ecosystems, and the landmark mining case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":111055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[8460],"class_list":{"0":"post-111038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-kudremukh-national-park","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111038"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111046,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111038\/revisions\/111046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}