Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR)

About Sahyadri Tiger Reserve:

• It is located in the Sahyadri Ranges of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra.
• It was notified in 2010 by amalgamating the Chandoli national park and Koyna wildlife sanctuary.
• The region of this Tiger Reserve includes the area around the Koyna Dam, the Warna River, and many other small rivers and streams originating from the Western Ghats and flowing to the east.
• Unique features
  • It is undulating with steep escarpments along western boundary.
  • The most distinct feature of the Tiger Reserve is the presence of numerous barren rocky and lateritic plateaus, locally called “Sadas”, with less perennial vegetation and overhanging cliffs on the edges along with numerous fallen boulders with dense thorny bushes.
  • Sahyadri Tiger Reserve is the only place where climax and near-climax vegetations are plentiful and prospects of adverse anthropogenic influence in the future are minimal.
• Vegetation: The forest cover here is that of moist evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist, and dry deciduous vegetation.
• Flora: There are many medicinal and fruit-bearing trees along with the commercial hard wood trees in the reserve.
• Fauna: Tiger, leopard, and some lesser cats along with the wolf, jackal, and wild dog.
• Other tiger reserves of Maharashtra: Melghat Tiger Reserve, Bor Tiger Reserve, Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve, Pench Tiger Reserve and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.

Q1: What is the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)?

NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC). It was established in 2006 under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

Source: Maharashtra gears up for tiger translocation to Sahyadri reserve in bid to revive numbers