Context: Kali Tiger Reserve officials recently arrested five habitual wildlife offenders and recovered a huge cache of poached animal parts from them.

About Kali Tiger Reserve

• Location: Kali Tiger Reserve, earlier known as Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve is located in Uttara Kannada District of Karnataka State. 

• This belt of Uttara Kannada district is a part of the Western Ghats.

• The Tiger Reserve comprises of two important protected areas of the region viz., Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and Anshi National Park.

• Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary (475.018 sq km) and Anshi National Park (339.866 sq km) are contiguous to each other and form a single tract of protected area located in biologically sensitive Western Ghats.

• River: Kali River, which forms the major source of water for Uttara Kannada, flows through the tiger reserve and hence the name.

• Vegetation: Forests  are primarily moist deciduous and semi-evergreen, with excellent patches of evergreen forests in the westernmost parts as well as in deep valleys.

• Flora: The complex floral tapestry comprises hardwood trees like teak, silver oak, Malabar tamrind, jamba, lantana, bamboo, shrubbery.

• Fauna: Prominent species are the Asiatic elephant, tiger, leopard, gaur, chevrotain, spotted deer, barking deer, sloth bear, dhole, Malabar civet, and giant civet. Kali Tiger Reserve is home to rare black panthers.

History

• The forest in the area was declared the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary on 10 May 1956.

• The state proposed carving out a section of the sanctuary to form the Anshi national park, which was implemented on 2 September 1987.

• It was renamed to Kali Tiger Reserve in December 2015.

• The park is home to several hydroelectric dams and a nuclear power station.