Centre's nod to turn BRT sanctuary into tiger reserve

Big cats in the country have got some more protected areas to roam around in down South with the Centre today giving in-principle approval for Karnataka's proposal to turn Biligiri Ranganatha Temple (BRT) Sanctuary into a tiger reserve.

The proposed tiger reserve will be spread around an 800 sq kilometer area and includes 580 sq km as core area where there is frequent spotting of the magnificent cats, according to the state government officials.

When notified, the reserve will be the fifth tiger sanctuary in the state after Nagarhole, Bandipur, Dandeli-Anshi and Bhadra wildlife sanctuaries. 

The Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Chamrajanagar district was set up in 1987 and occupies an area of 539.52 sq km. Named after the Biligirirangan hills, the BRT sanctuary forms a key link between the Eastern and Western Ghats.

"It is a good step to ensure better conservation of not only endangered tigers but also other wildlife in the Western Ghats. The area has a rich prey-base and is habitat of important flora and fauna," said Qamar Qureshi of Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in its survey in 2005 had spotted around 29 tigers along with good prey-base in the sanctuary indicating its potential to become a good tiger habitat. 

The Centre had decided that four new Tiger reserves will be created in the country and one park will be treated as a separate reserve. 

The reserves include Sunabeda Tiger Reserve, Shahyadri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh and Ratapani Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. 

All four states concerned had earlier submitted proposals to the Environment Ministry which is yet to notify them about their eligibility for fund from the Project Tiger. 

Currently, there are 39 tiger reserves across the country housing around 1,141 big cats in and around them.