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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).

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.

MAIN THREATS: Construction of dam; Extraction industry (mining); Poaching and hunting by tribals; Illegal felling of trees; Livestock grazing; Forest fires; Law and order problem (insurgency); Invasive species (weeds).

The area is under stress from excessive grazing and man-made fires which result in degradation of natural habitat and hamper regeneration. Illicit felling of Khair Acacia catechu and Teak Tectona grandis, and poaching of animals by armed groups are reported. There are 72 villages in the buffer zone of the Reserve and 113 villages within a radius of 5 km of the Reserve. The projected human population in these villages is 1,16,550, of which 39,000 people live within the Reserve boundary. About 70,000 cattle from these villages graze in the Reserve. Wild animals are affected by foot-and-mouth disease and anthrax. Armed extremists are also present in the Reserve causing a severe law and order problem (Jain 2001). Due to this reason, protection of the forest and its wildlife, study of wildlife and promotion of tourism has become difficult to carry out. Coal mining has been proposed about 1.6 km from the Reserve boundary. The Reserve is also threatened by the Kutku Dam of the North Koel multipurpose hydroelectric project.

Key contributors: Arvind Mishra and D. S. Srivastava.

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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.