Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) located in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in Tirunelveli district and Kanyakumari district in the

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu. It is part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.

History

The Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve was created in 1988 by combining Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary (251 km²) and Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary (567 km²), both established in 1962. Notification of 77 km² of parts of Veerapuli and Kilamalai Reserve Forests in adjacent Kanyakumari district, added to the reserve in April 1996, is pending. A core area of this reserve has been proposed as a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

. The continuation of "Project Tiger" in Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve for fiscal year 2010–2011, at the cost of Rs. 19,433,000, was approved by the

National Tiger Conservation Authority The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was established in December 2005, following a recommendation of the Tiger Task Force, constituted by the Prime Minister of India for reorganised management of Project Tiger and the many Tiger Res ...

on 28 August 2010.

Geography

The reserve is located between latitude 8° 25' and 8° 53' N and longitude 77° 10' and 77° 35' E, about 45 km west of

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tam ...

City, and forms the

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

for 14 rivers and streams. Among these rivers and streams, the Ganga, Tambraparani, Ramanadi, Karayar, Servalar, Manimuthar, Pachayar, Kodaiyar, Gadananathi River, and Kallar form the backbone of the irrigation network and drinking water for the people of

, Turicorin and part of Kanyakumari District. Seven major dams—Karaiyar, Lower Dam, Servalar, Manimuthar, Ramanadi, Gadananathi River and Kodaiyar—owe their existence to these rivers. The reserve spans a range of 40 to 1,800 m in elevation. Agasthiyamalai (1681 m.) is in the core zone of the reserve.

Conservation

KMTR forms part of the inter-state (

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

and Tamil Nadu) Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve. This part of Agastya Mala hills in the core of KMTR is considered one of the five centres of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

and

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

in India by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Western Ghats, Agasthyamalai Sub-Cluster, including all of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, is under consideration by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Committee The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance ...

for selection as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

.UNESCO, World Heritage sites, Tentative lists, Western Ghats sub cluster, Agasthyamalai. retrieved 20 April 200
World Heritage sites, Tentative lists
/ref> The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment has developed and implemented a

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

intervention program in KMTR to decrease local villagers' dependency on the forests for fuel to and build community awareness about the value of biodiversity in the area.
"Agasthya"
the KMTR newsletter, includes updates on research projects and staff activities at KMTR. The contents of the first issue included: "A Sanctuary for Cycas circinalis," "Tiger Almost," "Round in Agasthyamalai in Fourteen Days," "Corridors - It is Just Not for the Four Legged Furry Creatures," "Behaviour and Movement of Nilgiri Langur in the Upper Kodayar Range – KMTR," " Canopy News," "Agasthya Village Commons and Backyards to Meet the

Biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bio ...

Requirements: An Experiment with Panchayat Raj and Women

Collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

s," "Bi-Lingual Field Guide Test Run," "Snippets from the Field," " Cullenia exarillata: A Keystone Species for Birds?" and "Tea, Tiger and Oranges". Tigers are also protected in Tamil Nadu at Mudumalai National Park, Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Mukurthi National Park and Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary.

Flora and fauna

KMTR has at least 150

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

plants, 33 fish, 37

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...

, 81

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchoceph ...

, 273 birds and 77

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

species. As per the 2018 census, the tiger population is 16 to 18. Other animals in the tiger reserve include leopards, elephants, Nilgiri tahr, Nilgiri langur, wild boar, chithal, sambar deer, leopard cat, jungle cat and 67 other mammal species. Habitat use by the

grey junglefowl The gray junglefowl (''Gallus sonneratii''), also known as Sonnerat's junglefowl, is one of the wild ancestors of the domestic chicken together with the red junglefowl and other junglefowls. The species epithet commemorates the French explore ...

(''Gallus sonneratii'') at Mundanthurai plateau, Tamil Nadu, was investigated from December 1987 to March 1988.

Settlements

The Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve has a large number of employees of the Electricity Board and Public Works Department who stay in three colonies and work at Karayar, Upper Dam, Servalar and Upper Kodayar reservoirs within the reserve. Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation has a 33.88 km² land in the core area of the reserve leased from singampatti zamin valid until 2028. The company has tea and coffee plantations and three factories, and employs about 10,000 workers in the reserve. There are several small estates and five

Kani KANI (1500 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel format. Licensed to Wharton, Texas, United States, it serves the Houston, Texas area. The station is currently owned by Martin Broadcasting. History KANI was first proposed, and a constru ...

Tribal habitations, consisting of about 102 families. About 145 hamlets situated within 5 km of the 110 km eastern boundary of the reserve are inhabited by 100,000 people. There are about 50,000 cattle grazing out of these fringe villages, with a small number of cattle owned by the tea estate workers and residents of the electricity board colonies. On 18 January 2018, the state government passed instructions to the Tirunelveli district collector and the state forest department to notify the entire area that originates at Thamirabharani river as a reserve forest. The state forest department sought the government to convert all tea estate areas leased out to private parties to be brought back under the forest cover. On 12 January 2018, the governor of the state declared new forest boundaries for Kalakad and Mundanthurai that caters water to five southern districts.

References

External links

*http://www.dinakaran.com/News_detail.asp?Nid=364291
Dinamani - Website opened for Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
*http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2334108.ece
Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
{{Authority control Tiger reserves of India Tirunelveli district South Western Ghats montane rain forests Wildlife sanctuaries of the Western Ghats Wildlife sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu 1988 establishments in Tamil Nadu Protected areas established in 2008