Why in news:

• Recently, the Ramgarh Vishdhari wildlife sanctuary received a nod from the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) technical committee to become a Tiger Reserve.
• This will be the 4th Tiger reserve of Rajasthan and 52nd Tiger Reserve of India.
• Presently, Rajasthan has three tiger reserves with over 90 big cats at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) in Sawai Madhopur, Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Alwar, and Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) in Kota.
• Of the three tiger reserves, Ranthambore has the largest number of big cats.
• Centre’s nod for creation of the Ramgarh Vishdhari sanctuary is a step forward in Rajasthan government’s plan to develop a tiger corridor after connecting the three tiger reserves passing through districts of Sawai Madhopur, Kota and Bundi.
• The new tiger reserve will link Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in the Northeast & Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve on the southern side.

The need:

• As far as tiger population is concerned, recent trends had indicated a downslide. While the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve at present has a population of more than 65 tigers, the Mukundra reserve is presently left with just one big cat, after a series of deaths inside the reserve.
• At present, there is only one tiger in Mukundra Tiger Reserve, the tigress MT-4. In order to give a fillip to the population, a proposal has been sent to bring two males and one female from Ranthambore.

Key Points:

Ramgarh Vishdhari wildlife sanctuary:

• This Sanctuary is located at a distance of 45 Km from Bundi City on Bundi-Nainwa Road near Village Ramgarh, District Bundi, Rajasthan. It spreads over an area of 252.79 Sq. Km.
• It was notified in the Year 1982 under section 5 of the Rajasthan Wild Animals and Birds Protection Act, 1951.
• The total area of 1,017 sq. km has been identified as the reserve area comprising two forest blocks of Bhilwara, territorial forest block of Bundi and Indargarh, which falls under the buffer zone of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR).

Biodiversity:

• Its Fauna consists of birds and animals like Leopard, , Wild boar, Sloth bear, Indian Wolf, Hyena, Jackal, Fox, Chinkara, Sambhar, deer and Crocodile.
• The flora consists of Dhok, Salar, Khair, Khirni trees with some Mango and Ber trees.

Other Protected Areas in Rajasthan:

• Desert National Park, Jaisalmer
• Sariska National Park, Alwar
• Ranthambore National Park
• Bilaspur Conservation Reserve
• Sajjangarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Udaipur
• Keoladeo Ghana, Bharatpur (Ramsar wetland)
• Sambhar Lake (Ramsar wetland)

Related Info:

Tiger Reserves in India:

• There are 51 tiger reserves in India, which are governed by Project Tiger that is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
• India is home to 80 percent of tigers in the world. In 2006, there were 1,411 tigers which increased to 1,706 in 2010, 2,226 in 2014 and 2,967 in 2018.
• The increase in India’s tiger population played a big role in driving up global tiger population. The number of wild tigers globally rose from 3,159 in 2010 to 3,890 in 2016 according to World Wildlife Fund and Global Tiger Forum.
• Meghamalai in Tamil Nadu was declared as the 51st Tiger reserve in India in 2021.

Project Tiger:

• Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973.
• The project aims to stem the dwindling population of the Bengal Tiger - the national animal of India and work to increase their numbers.
• The project aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage and the diversity of ecosystems across the tigers' distribution in the country.
• Since inception, the project coverage has expanded to 51 reserves, spread out in 18 tiger states, from the initial 9 reserves.

National Tiger Conservation Authority:

• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• It was established in 2005 following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
• It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation in India