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Site description (2004 baseline):

The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve is located in three ranges: Moharli, Tadoba and Kolsa in West Chandrapur Forest Division. Tadoba National Park was declared in 1955 and is one of the oldest national parks of India. It occupies an area of 11,650 ha, while the Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary occupies 50,880 ha. Together they form the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve covering a total area of 62,540 ha. The Park has a lake called Tadoba, visited by migratory waterfowl in winter. There are two more lakes, Kolsa and Jamni visted by winter migrants (Y. Dubey in litt. 2003). The name Tadoba is traceable to a king named Taru who was believed to have been killed by a tiger and since then the king was deified by the tribals (Tuljapurkar 1994). They established a shrine in his memory, which is visited by the local tribals during the large annual fair held between December and January. The habitat of these two protected areas, consisting of Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests, interspersed with several large meadows, is such that it provides a good herbivore density for large cats. The forest is typical Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest, dominated by teak Tectona grandis and bamboo Dendrocalamus strictus. Other associates are Pterocarpus marsupium, Adina cordifolia, Boswellia serrata, Diospyros melanoxylon, Terminalia arjuna, T. tomentosa, and Syzygium cumini interspersed with bamboo. In some areas, patches of Moist Deciduous Forest are present, the prominent species found are Syzygium cumini, Actinodaphne hookerii, Terminalia chebula, and Olea dioica. Epiphytes, lichens and ferns are also recorded (Anon 1971).

AVIFAUNA: In the checklist prepared by the Forest Department, 181 bird species are mentioned (Rajkondawar 1991). Yogesh Dubey (pers. comm. 2003) has listed 185 bird species. This site qualifies A1 criteria as five globally threatened species have been identified within it. This site harbours the typical birds of Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest of central India. Of the 59 species listed by BirdLife International (undated) for Biome-11, 23 have been seen here. Most of them are quite common and present in other parts of India, and owing to the long history of protection of these forests, they are doing quite well here. This site is selected both for threatened species (A1) and biome species (A3). Tadoba-Andhari is also the southern most region in the distribution range of Sarus Crane Grus antigone. The Sarus is not found inside the forest but at Moharli Lake that lies on the outskirts of the Park. However, Y. Dubey who worked in Tadoba for three years have never seen Sarus in this lake. Sarus has been reported from Junoona area in Chandrapur district but the area is quite far from Tadoba (Yogesh Dubey pers. comm. 2003).

OTHER KEY FAUNA: The faunal diversity includes 41 species of mammals, 30 species of reptiles, 5 species of amphibians, 74 species of butterflies, 26 species of spiders, and 23 species of fishes. The Marsh Crocodile Crocodylus palustris has been introduced in Tadoba Lake.

MAIN THREATS: Construction and impact of dams; Forest grazing; Firewood collection; Man-animal conflict; Forest fires; Poaching.

The Tadoba National Park and Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary are surrounded by big villages. There are six villages inside the Park and 52 on the periphery. The actual area under the control of the Forest Department differs from the notified area. Illegal grazing and hunting are known to occur and patrolling is necessary. Illegal tree felling, encroachment, and crop raiding by wildlife result in man-animal conflicts. The construction of a dam is proposed outside the Park near Arjuni village. The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve is gaining from excellent protection measures, but these benefits will be negated if the irrigation project is allowed to come up. This project will submerge almost 3,000 ha of forests adjoining the Reserve. Apart from the direct loss of forest land due to submergence, there will also be disturbance during the construction process, workers’ colonies, fishing operations on the reservoir and secondary pressure on surrounding forests. The project will also destroy the continuity of tiger habitat between Tadoba and Indravati Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh. The reservoir formed by the dam will prevent free movement of wildlife to the east and southeast of Tadoba. Killing of domestic livestock by tigers and leopards is frequent in areas where there are villages. This usually has an adverse impact on the economic conditions of the local people and results in antagonism towards the management and the tigers.

Key contributors: Anish Andheria, Deepak Apte, Rushikesh Chauhan and Girish Jathar.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tadoba National Park and Andhari Tiger Reserve (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tadoba-national-park-and-andhari-tiger-reserve-iba-india on 23/12/2024.