India’s Tiger Reserve receives prestigious award for doubling the number of tigers in the wild – Gaonconnection

India’s Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve has been awarded the prestigious TX2 awards after its tiger numbers doubled since 2010. The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu, spans 1,409 square kilometers and was declared a tiger reserve in 2013, is home to around 80 tigers.

The recent award recognizes the efforts of state governments and local communities who have played one of the most important roles in transforming a relatively new tiger reserve into one of the source populations of tigers in India.

“The TX2 Awards celebrate the outstanding contributions made by government agencies, NGOs and local communities to strengthen tiger conservation. Honoring a recently notified tiger reserve like Sathyamangalam with the award is a step forward in inspiring others to work to preserve this magnificent species and its habitats,” Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, World Wide Fund for Nature- India (WWF India), was quoted in a press release issued today, January 25.

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Awards are given by Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), Global Tiger Forum (GTF), IUCN Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Program (ITHCP), Panthera, UNDP, The Lion’s Share, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and WWF. They celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 13 tiger range countries, including India, Nepal, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh, which have pledged to double the world population of wild tigers by 2022 .

In September this year, tiger range countries will meet at the second Global Tiger Summit in Vladivostok to assess progress towards the ambitious goal of TX2 – to double the number of tigers in the wild – and identify tiger conservation priorities for the next 12 years. The second World Tiger Summit in Vladivostok offers the opportunity to define a new vision to secure their future.

“Successful tiger conservation involves ongoing landscape-scale habitat management and improvement, rigorous monitoring of tigers and their prey, and intensive work with local communities. All of these criteria were met with excellence, giving us these globally significant results,” said Sugoto Roy, Integrated Tiger Habitat Program Coordinator, IUCN.

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With 724 tigers, the Nilgiri Biosphere Landscape of which Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is a part is currently home to the largest population of tigers in the world. Adjacent areas such as Erode Forest Division, Coimbatore Forest Division and Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary are also becoming important tiger habitats, creating a mosaic that allows big cats to move around easily. in search of food and new territories. There are 52 tiger reserves in India.

Along with the Sathyamangalam Indian Tiger Reserve, Bardia National Park in Nepal won this year’s TX2 award for doubling the population of wild tigers since 2010.

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“Highest number of tiger deaths in India in 2021”

Meanwhile, according to information available on the website of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, seven tigers died between 2012 and 2019 at the reserve. of Sathyamangalam tigers.

It also shows that a total of 126 tigers died last year in 2021 in India – the highest since it started collecting the data in 2012. Over a ten-year period, the second highest death of tigers was recorded in 2016 with 121. However, the Union Environment Ministry called the reports “unbalanced”.

Data by state shows that the highest number of deaths was recorded in Madhya Pradesh with 202 between 2012 and 2020. It was followed by Maharashtra with 141 tiger deaths and Karnataka with 123 tiger deaths during the same period.

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