Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve – The
Tiger Reserve
This tiger reserve is situated in the Indo-Malayan realm floristically, It is a
member of the Oriental Region zoo-geographically and the bio-geographic
location falls in Deccan Peninsula – Central Highlands. The tiger reserve
covers an area of about 1536.938 sq. kms. The core area is about 716.903 sq. kms
and buffer area is about 820.035 sq. kms. The tiger reserve is located at an
elevation of 440 m to 810 m above MSL. The reserve has around 32
hills. The highest hill, Bandhavgarh Hill, at the height of about 811 m
(2,661 ft) above sea level, is situated at the centre of the park.
The
lowest point in the reserve is at Tala (440 m above sea level). The tiger reserve is situated in the middle of Kaimur hill ranges which are the eastern
extension of Vindhya mountain range. The tiger reserve falls between the
Vindhyan hill range and the eastern flank of Satpura hill range. The Son River
flows on the boundary of the tiger reserve on the eastern side and Umrar River
flows through the western fringes. Some of the other important streams flowing
in the reserve are Johila, Janadh, Charanganga, Damnar, Banbei, Ambanala and
Andhiyari Jhiria.
These
streams then merge into the son river, an important southern tributary to the
river Ganges. The tiger reserve has five zones namely Tala, Magdhi, Panpatha, Kallwah
and Khitauli. Tala is the richest zone in terms of biodiversity, mainly tigers.
These ranges together forms the core area of the tiger reserve. The best time
to visit this tiger reserve is between November and March. This tiger reserve
is also archeologically significant because of the presence of the Bandhavgarh Fort, various ancient caves, rock paintings and carvings.
Flora:
The tiger reserve comprises of moist peninsular low level sal forest, west gangetic
moist mixed deciduous forest, northern dry mixed deciduous forest, and dry deciduous
scrub forest. The reserve is home to around 300 species of plants. The reserve
is densely populated with sal trees in the valleys and bamboo stretches on the
lower slopes. Some of the trees found in the reserve are Saj, Dhaora, Tendu,
Arjun, Amla, Palash, Salai, Mango, Jamun, Babul, Banyan, Ber, Dhak, Dhok,
Kadam, Khajur, Karel, Mohua, Khejda, Kakera, Neem, and Khair.
The
grasslands can be seen throughout the reserve. The important grasslands of the
reserve are Chakradhara, Bathan, Sehra, Rajbehra, Bhitri Bah, Jobi Bah, Kudrakeruvah,
and Kerawaha. Rare species of plants such as insectivorous
plant Droserapeltata, commonly known as Shield Sundew or Pale Sundew and
medicinal plant locally known as Buch (Acoruscalamus), are found in isolated
patches of Tala range of the reserve.
Fauna:
The tiger reserve is home to 47 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, and 100
species of butterflies. The mammals found in the reserve are Bengal tiger,
Indian leopard, gaur, sambar, barking deer, nilgai, Indian wolf, striped hyena,
wild boar, caracal, chital, chausingha, chinkara, Asiatic jackal, Bengal fox,
sloth bear, dhole, Indian civet, palm squirrel, bandicoot rat, ratel, grey
mongoose, smooth-coated otter, rusty spotted cat, fishing cat, wild elephant,
jungle cat, common langur, and rhesus macaque.
The
royal Bengal tiger is the star attraction of this reserve. The density of tiger
population at this reserve is the highest known in India. This is
also white tiger country. The last known white tiger was captured by
Maharaja Martand Singh in 1951. This White Tiger called Mohan, is now stuffed,
and displayed in the palace of Maharajah of Rewa. The reptiles found in the
reserve are cobra, krait, viper, rat snake, python, turtle, varanus and monitor
lizard.
The Indian
bison (gaur) became extinct in this reserve and later were reintroduced
from Kanha. The project of reintroduction of gaurs dealt with shifting
some gaurs from Kanha National Park to Bandhavgarh. 50 animals were
shifted by the winter of 2012. This project was executed by Madhya Pradesh
Forest department, Wildlife Institute of India, and Taj Safaris by technical
collaboration.
Avifauna:
This tiger reserve is home to 250 species of birds. The birds found in the reserve
are Plum-headed parakeet, Green-headed barbet, Orange-headed thrush, Brown-headed
barbet, Coppersmith barbet, Common myna, Alexandrine parakeet, Indian grey
hornbill, Rock pigeon, House crow, Carrion crow, Little egret, Cattle egret, Great
egret, Black drongo, Pond heron, Common snipe, Black-winged stilt, Red-wattled lapwing,
Indian peafowl, Greater coucal, Oriental magpie robin, Indian roller, Indian
robin, Eurasian collared dove, Hoopoe, Sirkeer malkoha, Large-billed crow, White-browed
fantail flycatcher, Yellow-crowned woodpecker, Rufous treepie (normal and
pallida), Lesser adjutant stork, Oriental white eye, Olive-backed pipit, Spotted
dove, White-throated kingfisher, Red-rumped swallow, Lesser whistling teal, Common
kingfisher, Black stork, Asian green bee-eater, Greater racket-tailed drongo, Red-vented
bulbul, Long-billed vulture, Grey-capped pygmy woodpecker, Chestnut-shouldered
petronia, Crested serpent eagle, Black redstart, Brahminy starling, Brown fish
owl, Yellow-footed green pigeon, Malabar pied hornbill, Common kestrel, White-throated
fantail flycatcher, Rufous woodpecker, Sapphire flycatcher, Crested hawk
eagle (Cirrhatus), Oriental turtle dove, White-rumped vulture, Lesser
kestrel, Large cuckooshrike, Pied bushchat, Black-winged cuckooshrike, Black-rumped
flame back woodpecker, House sparrow, Golden oriole, Rose-ringed parakeet,
Paddy field pipit, Dusky crag martin, Long-tailed shrike, Black ibis, White-necked
stork, Purple sunbird, Giant leafbird, Tickell's flowerpecker, Little cormorant, Little brown dove, White-tailed swallow, Jungle
babbler, Shikra, Jungle myna, Common tailorbird, Red collared dove, Red-necked
vulture, Painted francolin, Eurasian thick-knee, Common sandpiper, Lesser
spotted eagle, Greater whistling teal, Great cormorant, Pied kingfisher, Laughing
dove, Bonelli's eagle, Dark black crow, Asian pied starling, Asian Duck, Little
grebe and Sarus crane.
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