| Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
 Gaur in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve | |
   | |
| Coordinates | 8°41′N77°19′E / 8.683°N 77.317°E /8.683; 77.317 |
| Area | 1,601.54 km2 (618.36 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1800 |
| Established | 1988 |
| Website | kmtr |
Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) located in theSouth Western Ghats montane rain forests inTirunelveli district andKanyakumari district in theSouth Indian state ofTamil Nadu, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu. It is part of theAgasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.[1]
The Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve was created in 1988 by combiningKalakad 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 adjacentKanyakumari district, added to the reserve in April 1996, is pending. A 400 km2 (150 sq mi) core area of this reserve has been proposed as anational park.[2]
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 theNational Tiger Conservation Authority on 28 August 2010.[3]
The reserve is located between latitude 8° 25' and 8° 53' N and longitude 77° 10' and 77° 35' E, about 45 km west ofTirunelveli City, and forms thecatchment area for 14 rivers and streams. Among these rivers and streams, the Ganga,Thamirabarani, Ramanadi, Karayar, Servalar,Manimuthar, Pachayar, Kodaiyar,Gadananathi River, and Kallar form the backbone of the irrigation network and drinking water for the people ofTirunelveli, Tuticorin and part ofKanyakumari 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.[4]
KMTR forms part of the inter-state (Kerala and Tamil Nadu)Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve.[5] This part ofAgastya Mala hills in the core of KMTR is considered one of the five centres ofbiodiversity andendemism in India by theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). TheWestern Ghats, Agasthyamalai Sub-Cluster, including all of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, is under consideration by theUNESCOWorld Heritage Committee for selection as aWorld Heritage Site.[6]
TheAshoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment has developed and implemented aconservation 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.[7]
"Agasthya", the KMTR newsletter, includes updates on research projects and staff activities at KMTR. The contents of the first issue included: "A Sanctuary forCycas circinalis", "Tiger Almost", "Round in Agasthyamalai in Fourteen Days", "Corridors - It is Just Not for the Four Legged Furry Creatures", "Behaviour and Movement ofNilgiri Langur in the UpperKodayar Range – KMTR", "Canopy News", "Agasthya Village Commons and Backyards to Meet theBiomass Requirements: An Experiment withPanchayat Raj and WomenCollectives", "Bi-Lingual Field Guide Test Run", "Snippets from the Field", "Cullenia exarillata: A Keystone Species for Birds?" and "Tea, Tiger and Oranges".[8]
Tigers are also protected in Tamil Nadu atMudumalai National Park,Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary,Mukurthi National Park andSathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary.[9]
KMTR has at least 150endemic plants, 33 fish, 37amphibians, 81reptiles, 273 birds and 77mammal 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.[citation needed]
Habitat use by thegrey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii) at Mundanthurai plateau, Tamil Nadu, was investigated from December 1987 to March 1988.[10]
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 fiveKani 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.[11]
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 atThamirabharani 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.[12]
