News: Forest authorities arrested 53 persons for attempting to encroach upon protected land within the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, Chhattisgarh.
About Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve
- The Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve is located in the Chhattisgarh.
- The reserve includes the Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary and the Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary along with parts of Tourenga, Mainpur, Indagaon, Kulhadighat, Dhawalpur, and Sankara forest ranges.
- It was declared tiger reserve in the year 1984. Later, it became part of the Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve.
- It acts as a buffer for Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary and forms a larger Chhattisgarh–Odisha tiger conservation unit.
- The Tiger Reserve is named after the rivers Udanti and Sitanadi flowing into the Udanti Sanctuary and Sitanadi Sanctuary.
- Core Areas of the Reserve: Udanti and Sitanadi
- Vegetation: The forest type here is predominantly tropical dry and moist deciduous, with a mix of sal (Shorea robusta), bamboo, and other hardwood species.
- Flora: The Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve consists mainly of sal, mixed forest and bamboo forest on hilly areas. There are natural forests of teak in some areas, in which mainly species like Bija, Sheesham, Tinsa, Saj, Khamhar, Haldu, Mudi, Kullu, Karra, Senha, Amaltas etc. are found. Various types of medicinal plants are abundant in the tiger reserve.
- Fauna: The Asiatic Wild Buffalo is the most important endangered species found in the reserve. Other notable animals include the tiger, leopard, Indian wolf, sloth bear, and mouse deer.
