Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary notified as tiger reserve: Why Rajasthan needed a fourth sanctuary

India’s tiger conservation efforts received a boost after the environment ministry notified the Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary in Rajasthan as India’s 52nd tiger reserve on Monday.With this announcement, Rajasthan now has four tiger reserves — Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Sawai Madhopur district, Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Kota district and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar district.Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted the news, saying, “Pleased to note Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve has been notified today.”As the country hopes to increase its wild cat numbers — India currently has 2,967 tigers in 20 states — here’s explaining how this new sanctuary will help in conservation.About Ramgarh Vishdhari SanctuaryThe Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary, covering an area of about 252 square kilometres, acts as a buffer for the Ranthambore National Park on the Bundi-Nainwa Road in Rajasthan.The area had been declared a sanctuary on 20 May 1982, Section 5 of the Rajasthan Wildlife and Bird Protection Act, 1951.It home to a large number of wild animals such as the Indian Wolf, leopard, striped hyena, sloth bear, golden jackal, chinkara, nilgai and fox.The state government had sent the proposal to develop Ramgarh Vishdhari sanctuary for tigers in April, 2021, which was approved by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in July itself.Why is Ramgarh important to tiger conservation?Experts note that while Ramgarh doesn’t have a high tiger population, it plays a critical role for the movement of tigers.Picture this: The Ramgarh sanctuary will connect the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Sawai Madhopur district in the northeast with the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in the Kota district on the southern side (as seen in the image below) and become an important tiger corridor.[caption id="attachment_10684131" align="alignnone" width="692"] Image Courtesy: @moefcc/Twitter[/caption]Yadavendradev Jhala, dean, Wildlife Institute of India, was quoted telling Down to Earth, “The population in this area will probably never be very high because it is a small area. But since it is an important area for tiger connectivity, the conservation efforts and funding that will be deployed there now will benefit the population of the big cats.”Furthermore, this new reserve will help in controlling the overpopulation and the consequent effect of overcrowding in Ranthambore; today, the reserve houses 80 tigers over 1,334 sq km.In 2021, when it was announced that Ramgarh was notified as a sanctuary by NCTA, Mohan Lal Meena, then principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden, Rajasthan had told Indian Express, “Tigers have always frequented the area demarked for the Ramgarh Vishdhari tiger sanctuary and even now, tigers regularly pass through this area from the direction of Ranthambore. It is adjoining the buffer area of the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. This newly proposed tiger reserve in Bundi district will connect the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Sawai Madhopur district with the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Kota district.”The Centre had then announced that with Ramgarh this would be an effective corridor and for that they would relocate around eight villages.[caption id="attachment_10684141" align="alignnone" width="640"] As of date, there are 80 tigers in Ranthambore, causing a problem of overpopulation. AFP[/caption]Importance of tiger corridorsRamgarh has once again put the focus on tiger corridors. For the uninitiated, a tiger corridor is a stretch of land linking tiger habitats, allowing movement of tigers, prey and other wildlife.As of date, there are around 33-35 major tiger corridors and several smaller ones in the country.Corridors also help reduce man-tiger attacks; as more space is given to tigers, the killing of human beings will come down and reduce resentment among locals against tigers.Tiger corridors also serve as habitat for several other species such as wolves, hyenas, ratel, pangolins, birds, reptiles, etc.The Wildlife Conservation Trust has stated that India’s expanding networks of roads, railway lines, power lines and canals have emerged as the dominant threat to wildlife corridors.A study by the Wildlife Conservation Trust in 2021 showed that even though central India harboured nearly 35 per cent of the country’s tiger population, not a single tiger sub-population in the region was genetically viable on its own. Hence, for long-term survival, these populations need to be able to interact with others and that will only be possible through corridors.It is left to be seen if the creation of a new tiger reserve will help, as there are some experts who have flagged concerns about the Rajasthan Forest Department’s resources to monitor the new reserves.India Today in July 2021 had reported that the state had over one-third of the 10,000 sanctioned posts in the department were vacant and there were only six veterinarians on deputation, while 17 posts for the same remain vacantHowever, the government said a few crores out of the Rs 300 crore budget of Project Tiger demarcated for Ramgarh Vishdhar will help before tourism starts contributing to the revenue.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.