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In the previous article, we had posted a comprehensive list of National Parks in India. Now let us have a look at all the national parks, tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries that have featured in News since 2019.
List of National Parks, Tiger Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries in News
| National Park/Wildlife Sanctuary/Tiger reserve | Location | Important Detail | Why in news? | |
| 1 | Mukurthi National Park
| Tamil Nadu | Part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
Nilgiri Tahr is a Keystone species of the park
| Tamil Nadu government is constructing fire lines’ or ‘fire breaks’ ahead of summer and peak fire season. |
| 2 | Madhav National Park
| Madhya Pradesh | Home to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)s like Saharia | Encroachment issues |
| 3 | National Chambal Sanctuary
| Madhya Pradesh | Home to Gharial (critically endangered), Gangetic river dolphin (Endangered) and red-crowned roofed turtle (critically endangered) | Recently declared as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) |
| 4 | Kanha National park | Madhya Pradesh | Also, a Tiger Reserve
| Increase in population of Hard ground swamp deer (Barasingha) |
| 5 | Manas National Park | Assam | Also, a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, Project tiger reserve and a biosphere reserve. | India, Nepal and Bhutan drafted a memorandum of understanding to create a trans-boundary wildlife conservation ‘peace park’ which will an extension of the Manas National Park |
| 6 | Bandipur National Park/Tiger Reserve
| Karnataka | Part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve | Ban on vehicular movement on the forest stretch of NH 766 Forest fires in 2019 |
| 7 | Sanjay Gandhi National Park | Maharashtra | One of the major national parks existing within a metropolis limit | Death of last captive white tiger Bajirao |
| 8 | Thane Creek flamingo sanctuary | Maharashtra | Supports a large congregation of flamingos | Concerns over ambitious bullet train project between Ahmedabad-Mumbai |
| 9 | Ranthambhore National Park | Rajasthan | Also, a Tiger Reserve | Risk of transfer of canine distemper from the dogs to tigers and leopards |
| 10 | Bannerghatta National Park | Karnataka | part of the national park was designated as Bannerghatta Biological Park- also has a butterfly park, first in India | Area of Eco-sensitive zone curtailed |
| 11 | Rajaji National Park/ Tiger reserve | Uttarakhand | Ganga and Song rivers flow through the Park | Supreme Court halted further construction of the Kandi road project which passes through the park |
| 12 | Jim Corbett National Park/Tiger Reserve | Uttarakhand | Established in 1936 as Hailey National Park- the first national park in India.
First to be declared as Tiger reserve in 1973 | Supreme Court halted further construction of the Kandi road project which passes through the park |
| 13 | Kaziranga National Park | Assam | UNESCO world heritage site Home to greater one-horned rhinoceros Recognized as an ‘Important Bird Area’ by Birdlife International. | split into two divisions — the existing Eastern Assam Wildlife and the new Biswanath Wildlife park with Brahmputra flowing in between |
| 14 | Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary | Madhya Pradesh | The NTCA informed the Supreme court that the cheetahs, to be translocated in India from Namibia, will be kept at the sanctuary | |
| 15 | Singphan Wildlife Sanctuary | Nagaland | Declared as an Elephant Reserve | |
| 16 | Dampa Tiger Reserve | Mizoram | Emerged as a worst managed tiger reserve in India (4th National Tiger Estimation) | |
| 17 | Pench National Park/Tiger Reserve | Madhya Pradesh | Pench River flows through the park | Emerged as best managed Tiger Reserves in India ((4th National Tiger Estimation)) |
| 18 | Periyar National Park/Tiger Reserve | Kerala | Also, an Elephant Reserve
Periyar and Pamba Rivers originate in the forests of the reserve | Emerged as best managed Tiger Reserves in India ((4th National Tiger Estimation)) |
| 19 | Gir National Park/Wildlife Sanctuary | Gujarat | Only surviving free-ranging population of the Asiatic lion exists in the Gir forest region | Asiatic Lion Conservation Project launched in 2019 |
| 20 | Kuno National Park | Madhya Pradesh | Previously a wildlife sanctuary, it was designated as National Park in 2018 | Possible site for Cheetah reintroduction project |
| 21 | Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary | Bihar | Only dolphin sanctuary | Gangetic River Dolphin census conducted |
| 22 | Bhitarkanika National Park | Odisha | Inundated by the rivers Brahmani, Baitarani, Dhamra, Pathsala.
Second-largest mangrove ecosystem in India, the first being Sundarbans (West Bengal)
Ramsar site. | Increase saltwater or estuarine crocodile population |
| 23 | Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary | Odisha | Known as the world’s largest Olive Ridley rookery | Odisha forest department put a ban on fishing in Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary |
| 24 | Desert National Park | Rajasthan | Home to Great Indian Bustard (Critically Endangered) | NGT asked the Centre to prepare a time-bound action plan within two months for protection of the Great Indian Bustards. |
| 25 | Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary | Maharashtra | Indian gaur (Vulnerable) spotted in the sanctuary for the first time in recorded history
| |
| 26 | Valmiki National Park/Tiger Reserve | Bihar | Located on the banks of River Gandak
Only National park in Bihar | Drone camera surveillance to start soon |
| 27 | Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary
| Karnataka | Part of a contiguous tiger habitat located very close to the tri-junction of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu | To be declared as Tiger Reserve. NTCA approval awaited |
| 28 |
| Goa | Goa is the only state in India which has protected the complete Western Ghats’ section within a state. | Wildlife activists have demanded that certain areas in wildlife sanctuaries of the state be notified as ‘tiger reserve’. |
| 29 | Pakke Tiger Reserve | Arunachal Pradesh | Bounded by Kameng River in the west and north, and by Pakke River in the east.
Famous for Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme | Arunachal Pradesh Government cleared 692.7 km highway through the reserve to build the East-West Industrial Corridor. |
| 30 | Ratapani sanctuary
| Madhya Pradesh | Bhimbetka rock shelters, are located within | Madhya Pradesh government decided to declare the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve. An approval for the same was received by NTCA back in 2013. |
This article is a part of the Series of Articles Important for Prelims 2020. To see the full list of articles, visit this page.
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