Context:
An elephant that was part of the historic Mysuru Dasara celebrations died of electrocution near Karnataka’s Nagarahole Tiger Reserve recently.
Relevance:
GS III: Environment and Ecology
About Nagarahole Tiger Reserve:
- Location: The reserve is located in the districts of Mysore and Kodagu in Karnataka, spanning an area of 847.981 sq km.
- Name: It is named after a small river, ‘Nagarahole’ (which means snake stream in Kannada), that winds through the habitat before merging with the river Kabini.
- Connectivity: It borders the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) to the south and the Bandipur Tiger Reserve to the southeast.
- Biosphere: The reserve is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
- Reservoirs: The Kabini and Taraka reservoirs are significant water bodies within the reserve, located in the west and southeast, respectively.
- History:
- The reserve’s origin as a protected area traces back to the Wodeyar dynasty, the former rulers of the Kingdom of Mysore, who used Nagarahole as an exclusive hunting reserve.
- Established as a wildlife sanctuary by Coorg State in 1955.
- Upgraded to a national park in 1988 and declared a Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger in 1999.
- Vegetation: The primary vegetation type is southern tropical, moist, mixed deciduous forest, with the eastern part transitioning into dry deciduous forest.
- Flora:
- The forests feature swampy fallows known as ‘hadlu’, dominated by grasses and sedges, preferred by wild herbivores.
- Key tree species include rosewood, teak, sandalwood, and silver oak.
- Fauna: The reserve is home to a diverse range of carnivores and herbivores, including tigers, leopards, Asiatic wild dogs, sloth bears, Asiatic elephants, gaur, sambar, chital, muntjac, four-horned antelope, wild pigs, mouse deer, and southwestern langurs.
-Source: Indian Express
