Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name=Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
other_name =
type= Habitat/Species Management Area
iucn_category = IV
latd = 8.65 |longd= 77.375
locator_position=right
inset_

inset_map_size = 75px
inset_map_x = 175px
inset_map_y = 225px
inset_map_marker = yes
inset_map_marker_size = 4x4px
inset_map_default = yes
skyline =Panthera tigris tigris.jpg|300px
skyline_caption =
state_name= Tamil Nadu
district= Tirunelveli
nearest_city = Madurai 200 km| blank_title_2 = Governing body | blank_value_2 = [http://www.forests.tn.nic.in/indexb.html Tamil Nadu Forest Dept.]
altitude= 1800
area_total= 895
precip= 3500

temp_summer=44
temp_winter=24
established_title = Established
established_date = 1988
blank_title_1 = Visitation 1996-97 | blank_value_1 = 177395
website = projecttiger.nic.in/kalakad.htm
footnotes = IBA Code: IN266, Criteria: A1, A2"' [BirdLife International, [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMFindResults.asp&INam=Kalakkad&Reg=2&Cty=99 Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve] , 2008]

Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), situated in the Southern Western Ghats in Tirunelveli district, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is the second largest protected area in Tamil Nadu State. This 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 km2 to mi2|400|abbr=yes core area of this reserve has been proposed as a National Park [ENVIS [http://www.wii.gov.in/nwdc/list_proposednp.pdf|List of Proposed National Parks in India] , 2006]

Geography

Location is between latitude 8° 25’ and 8° 53’ N and longitude 77° 10’ and 77° 35’ E. This is about 45 km west of Tirunelveli Town. See: [http://www.unitar.org/hiroshima/programmes/whs07/materials/Mathur-PPT-Nominating_Natural_Heritage.pdf page 15, map]

The Reserve forms the catchment area for 14 rivers and streams. Among them the Tambraparani, Ramanadi, Karayar, Servalar, Manimuthar, Pachayar, Kodaiyar, Kadnar, Kallar form the back-bone of the irrigation network and drinking water for people of Tirunelveli, Turicorin and part of Kanyakumari district. Sever major dams - Karaiyar, Lower Dam, Servalar, Manimuthar, Ramanadi, Kadnanadi and Kodaiyar - owe their existence to these rivers.

The reserve spans a range of 40 to 1,800 m in elevation. Agasthiyamalai (1681 m.), the 3rd highest peak in South India, is in the core zone of the Reserve. [Tamil Nadu Forest Dept. [http://www.forests.tn.nic.in/WildBiodiversity/tr_kmtr.html Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve] , 2007]

Conservation

KMTR forms part of the inter-state (Kerala and Tamil Nadu) Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve. [Samrakshan, PEACE–ELDF, "Lessons Learned from Eco-Development Experiences in India", June 2004, pp 255-275. [http://projecttiger.nic.in/pdf/peace.pdf] ] This part of Agastya Malai hills in the core of KMTR is considered one of the five centres of biodiversity and endemism in India IUCN. The Western Ghats, Agasthyamalai Sub-Cluster, including all of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site.UNESCO, World Heritage sites, Tentative lists, Western Ghats sub cluster, Agasthyamalai. retrieved 4/20/2007 [http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/2103/ World Heritage sites, Tentative lists] ]

The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) has developed and implemented a conservation intervention program in KMTR to decrease local villagers' dependency on the forests for fuel and build community awareness about the value of biodiversity in the area [Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment [http://www.atree.org/conliv_kmtr.html ATREE] ] .

[http://atree.org/Agasthya_1-1.pdf "Agasthya"] is the KMTR newsletter including updates on research projects and staff activities at KMTR. Contents of the first issue include: "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 requirements: An Experiment with Panchayat Raj and Women Collectives, Bi-Lingual Field Guide Test Run, Snippets from the Field, Cullenia exarillata: A Keystone Species for Birds?, Tea, Tiger and Oranges ". [ Ganesh T. (Marcvh 2007) "Agasthya" ATREE, Bangalore, retrieved 4/3/2007 [http://atree.org/Agasthya_1-1.pdf "Agasthya"] ]

Tigers are also protected in Tamil Nadu at: Mudumalai National Park, Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Mukurthi National Park and Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. [Wildlife Institute of India, Species Database, National Wildlife Database, Status and Distribution of Tiger (Panthera tigris). [http://www.wii.gov.in/nwdc/status_distribution_tiger.pdf National Wildlife Database] .]

Flora & fauna

KMTR has at least 150 endemic plants, 33 fish, 37 amphibian, 81 reptile, 273 bird and 77 mammal species. A 1997 Census by Project Tiger counted the following wildlife: Tigers 73, Leopards 79, Jungle Cats 1755, Wild Dogs 1718, Elephants N.A, Gaur 232, Sambar 1302, Chital 1966, Nilgiri Tahr 8780, Wild Pigs 187, Mouse Deer 172, Sloth Bears 123, Lion-tailed Macaque 37, Bonnet Macaque 61, Nilgiri langur 61, Common langur 61, Slender loris 61, Giant Squirrel 61, Crocodile 61.

A comprehensive report on the history, flora & fauna, ecology and future of the reserve: "The Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve: A global heritage of biological diversity" by A. J. T. Johnsingh,Wildlife Institute of India (2001) is available. [Johnsingh, A. J. T., Wildlife Institute of India, "The Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve: A global heritage of biological diversity",
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 80, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2001. [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:D8g_anAFFboJ:www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102001/378.pdf+Kalakad+-+Mundanthurai&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us Flora and Fauna of KMTR] ] and [Johnsingh, A. J. T., [http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102001/378.pdf also in PDF] ]

ettlements

The 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 Company has 33.88 km² land lease valid till 2028 in the core area of the Reserve. The Company has tea and coffee plantations, three factories and employs about 10,000 workers in the reserve. There are several small estates and five Kani 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. there are a small number of cattle owned by the tea estate workers and residents of the electricity board colonies. [Project Tiger, Reserve Guide: Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, retrieved 5/13/2007 [http://projecttiger.nic.in/kalakad.htm Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve] ]

References