Data Zone
Country/territory: India
IBA criteria met: A1, A3 (2004)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 79,433 hectares (794.33 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2014 | good | high | medium |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2004 baseline)
Palamau Tiger Reserve lies in the western part of the Chhotanagpur plateau. It was one of the first nine Tiger reserves launched in 1973. The forest stretches from the edge of the Netarhat Hill Range in the south to the river Auranga in the north and from the Latehar- Sarju road in the east to the Madhya Pradesh border in the west. The forests of Palamau are the catchment of the River North Koel. The Reserve has Sal Shorea robusta forests in the lower slopes and Dry Deciduous forests in the upper slopes. Bamboo and scattered open grassy patches are common. Almost pure patches of Bel Aegle marmelos are unique vegetation types found mostly in the northern part of the Reserve. The Reserve also has several waterfalls and a hot water spring (Jain 2001).
Key biodiversity
AVIFAUNA: Although the avifauna is largely unstudied, about 170 bird species have been recorded (Sinha and Mukherjee 1995), including six globally threatened species and 24 biome restricted species. Although none of the globally threatened species have significant populations in Palamau, the Reserve, especially the core area of 21,300 ha is good for birds of dry deciduous forests (Biome-11). We have included this site mainly on the basis of biome-restricted assemblage criteria. More studies are required to find out the density and abundance of various species of birds.
OTHER KEY FAUNA: Other than the Tiger Panthera tigris, mammals commonly sighted are Leopard Panthera pardus, Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Gaur Bos frontalis, Sambar Cervus unicolor, Chital Axis axis, Barking deer Muntiacus muntjak and Nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus.
Acknowledgements
Key contributors: Arvind Mishra and D. S. Srivastava.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Palamau Tiger Reserve (India). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/palamau-tiger-reserve-iba-india on 23/12/2024.