The Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change has accorded the final approval to Rajasthan’s fifth Tiger Reserve in Dholpur-Karauli.
- It is the country’s 54th tiger reserve. Ranipur Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh is the 53rd Tiger reserve in the country.
- The ministry also gave in-principle approval to declare Kumbhalgarh as a tiger reserve in Rajasthan.
- With increasing big cat population in RTR, the Rajasthan state forest department had moved the proposal to develop Dholpur-Karauli the fifth tiger reserve in Rajasthan. NTCA gave its approval in February 2023.
- The other four tiger reserves in Rajasthan are – Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Sawai Madhopur, Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar, Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Kota and Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve in Bundi, which was added in May 2022.
- The number of tigers in India has increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,682 in 2022.
- With a 50 per cent increase in the last four years, Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number of tigers in the country (785), followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (444). The number of tigers in Rajasthan has increased from 32 in 2006 to 88 in 2022.
