Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

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Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Forest in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Map showing the location of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Map showing the location of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Map showing the location of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Map showing the location of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
LocationPilibhit District
Nearest cityPilibhit
Coordinates28°41′31″N 79°51′11″E / 28.692°N 79.853°E / 28.692; 79.853
Area730.24 km2 (281.95 sq mi)
Max. elevation172
Established2014; 10 years ago (2014) (as tiger reserve)
Governing bodyNational Tiger Conservation Authority
Websitehttps://pilibhittigerreserve.in/

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh and was notified as a tiger reserve in 2014.[1] It forms part of the Terai Arc Landscape in the upper Gangetic Plain along the India-Nepal border. The habitat is characterized by sal forests, tall grasslands and swamp maintained by periodic flooding from rivers. The Sharda Sagar Dam extending up to a length of 22 km (14 mi) is on the boundary of the reserve.[2]

Pilibhit is one of the few well-forested districts in Uttar Pradesh. According to an estimate of the year 2018, Pilibhit district has over 800 km2 (310 sq mi) forests, constituting roughly 23% of the district’s total area. Forests in Pilibhit have at least 65 tiger and a prey including five species of deer. The Pilibhit tiger reserve got the first International award TX2 for doubling the tiger population in a stipulated time.[3] Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, however, had achieved the target in 2018 itself, much before 2022. In 2014, All India Tiger Estimation had estimated 25 tigers in Pilibhit and 2018 estimation showed an increase by projecting 65 tigers.

The reserve has a good tiger status owing to its connectivity with other tiger habitats like Kishanpur (UP), Lagga-Bagga (UP), Shuklaphanta (Nepal) and Nandaur (Uttarakhand). The tiger density for the landscape, as assessed during the 2010 country level assessment, is 5.4 tigers per 100 sq.km[4] As per tiger estimation report-2022, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve harbor nearly 99% of the tiger population in the state of Uttar Pradesh. [5]

The Pilibhit tiger reserve was one of the very first reserves in India that installed M-STrIPES, Phase-IV monitoring system and also, have a camera trap photo ID database of tigers, 24X7 electronic surveillance in core area.[4]

History[edit]

A proposal to create a dedicated home for the endangered cats in Pilibhit forests was sent to the government of India in April 2008. Later, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve was accepted in September 2008 on the basis of its special type of ecosystem with vast open spaces and sufficient feed for the elegant predators. Then it was declared as the 46th tiger reserve in June 2014. Before this the protected area used to be a timber yielding reserve forest.[1] In 2020, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve have bagged the global award TX2, for doubling the number of tigers in a short span of just four years against a target of 10 years. Among other 13 tiger range countries, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve was the first to receive this prestigious award. [6]

Geography[edit]

The northeastern boundary of the reserve is the River Sharda, which forms the Indo-Nepal border, while the southwest boundary is marked by the River Sharda and the River Ghaghara. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve consists of a core area of 602.79 km2 (232.74 sq mi) and a buffer area of 127.45 km2 (49.21 sq mi) in its periphery. The core area is restricted for human habitation, but there is some amount of disturbance due to traffic on roads passing through the reserve, people collecting forest resources and livestock grazing.[4] A wildlife corridor links Pilibhit Tiger Reserve with Jim Corbett National Park, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Dudhwa National Park, and Shuklaphanta National Park in Nepal.[4]

Reserves' boundaries

  • Northern Boundary: From Pilibhit-Bankati road to Mahof up to Uttarakhand boundary along Indo-Nepal border up to international pillar no. 17. From Indo-Nepal border pillar no. 17 to pillar no. 28[4]
  • Eastern Boundary: From Indo-Nepal pillar no. 28 along the boundary of Bifurcation Forest Block, Barahi Forest Block and Navadiya forest Block of Barahi Forest Range and up to the boundary of Navadiya Forest Block, Haripur Forest Block and Dakka Forest Block of Haripur Range.[4]
  • Southern boundary: From the Reserve Forest boundary of Haripur Range up to the Reserve Forest boundary of Barahi range, Mahof range, Mala Range and Dioria range.[4]
  • Western boundary: From the Reserve Forest boundary of Pasgaon Compartment 6 and Ramnagar Compartmnet no. 1 of Dioria Range along the Reserve Forest Boundary of Banganj Compartment no. 5, Gada Compartment no, 130, Ghamela Compartment no. 119 of Mala range up to Bankati.[4]

Climate[edit]

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve experiences climatic variations across the year. April-June can be dry and warm, whereas July to September is humid and warm. During December to February, days are cold and dry, but nights are colder and full of dew.[7]

Climate data for Pilibhit Tiger reserve
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 14
(57) 		19
(66) 		21
(70) 		36
(97) 		40
(104) 		42
(108) 		40
(104) 		36
(97) 		34
(93) 		29
(84) 		20
(68) 		11
(52) 		29
(83)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 4
(39) 		10
(50) 		13
(55) 		23
(73) 		31
(88) 		34
(93) 		32
(90) 		27
(81) 		24
(75) 		20
(68) 		13
(55) 		6
(43) 		20
(68)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 7.6
(0.3) 		23
(0.9) 		30
(1.2) 		46
(1.8) 		81
(3.2) 		120
(4.8) 		130
(5.2) 		140
(5.5) 		110
(4.3) 		30
(1.2) 		23
(0.9) 		13
(0.5) 		753.6
(29.8)
Source: [7]

Flora[edit]

Pilibhit tiger reserve

The floral composition of the habitat is given below:

  • North Indian tropical moist deciduous forests: Moist Shivalik Sal, Moist Bhabar dhun sal, Moist mixed deciduous, alluvial savannah woodland.[4]
  • Northern tropical dry deciduous forests: Dry Shivalik sal, dry bamboo brakes, Shivalik chir pine forests, Grasslands & old plantations.[4]

In general, the vegetation comprises of sal and mixed forests, interspersed with grasslands and riparian vegetation. There are more than 110 tree and 51 shrub species. The habitat is characterized by open meadows (chaurs) interspersed with sal and moist mixed deciduous forests. The grasslands are locally known as ‘Chaur’, which are an outcome of abandoned settlements or past clearings. Owing to their anthropogenic origin, these meadows are gradually getting colonized by gregarious woody species. There are several old plantations of the sixties and seventies, which include species like teak, Eucalyptus, Ailanthus, Terminalia alata (Asna), Lagerstroemia parviflora (Asidha), Adina cordifolia (Haldu), Mitragyna parviflora (Faldu), Gmelina arborea (Gahmhar), Holoptelea intgrifolia (Kanju), Acacia catechu (Khair), Pterocarpus marsupium (Vija sal), Kydia calyina (Poola), Lannea coromandelica (Jhigan) and Toona ciliate (Toon). Others include: Murraya koenigii (Kath neem), Grawia hirsute (Van Tulsi), Malloutus phillipensis (Rohni) and grasses like -Phragmites karka (Narkul), Cynodon dactylon (Doob), Vetiveria zizanioides (Khaskhas) and Erianthus munj (Moonj). However, such plantations are largely confined to the buffer area of the reserve. Several invasive weeds like Lantana and Cannabis are prevalent in the habitat. The forest patches are interspersed with grass meadows with several species like Sacchrum, Sclerostachya, Imperata, Themeda, Bothriochloa, Vetiveria, Apluda, Dichanthium, Digitaria and Cyperus. [4]

Fauna[edit]

Pilibhit Forest

In spring 2010, a rusty-spotted cat was recorded by camera traps for the first time.[8] Other mammal species present in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve include a large number of Bengal tiger, leopard cat, Indian elephant, barasingha, tiger, leopard, fishing cat, barking deer, Four-horned antelope, blackbuck, chital, hog deer, sambar, sloth bear, Indian giant flying squirrel, porcupine, small Indian civet, Indian flying fox, short nosed fruit bat, Indian common yellow bat, painted bat, rhesus macaque, langur, golden jackal, Bengal fox and hyena.[4]

The 450 resident bird species include Sarus crane, three hornbill species and six of eagle species, white-rumped vulture, grey partridge, black partridge, swamp francolin, darter, lesser whistling duck, Indian pitta, combed duck, peafowl, herons, red junglefowl, cormorants, egrets.[4] Reptiles are represented by marsh crocodile, gharial, five lizard species and several snake species including Indian rock python, king cobra, and common krait.[4] The river system in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve harbour about 79 fish species.[4]

In popular culture[edit]

Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language adventure drama film written and directed by Srijit Mukherji[9] and produced by T-Series and Reliance Entertainment Studios. The film stars Pankaj Tripathi, Sayani Gupta and Neeraj Kabi in the lead roles. The film was released theatrically on 24 June 2022.[10][11][12] In this feature film, an adventure drama of a lesser fortunate villager is shown via the men-tiger conflict in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Chanchani, P. (2015). "Pilibhit Tiger Reserve: conservation opportunities and challenges". Economic and Political Weekly. 50 (20): 19. Archived from the original on 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Pilibhit Tiger Reserve". Reserve Guide - Project Tiger Reserves In India. National Tiger Conservation Authority. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Pilibhit Tiger Reserve Gets Global Award For Doubling Tiger Population". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Pilibhit Tiger Reserve" (PDF). National Tiger Conservation Authority.
  5. ^ {{cite web|title=status_of_tiger-copredators-2022|url=https://ntca.gov.in/assets/uploads/Reports/AITM/status_of_tiger-copredators-2022.pdf
  6. ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/uttar-pradesh-pilibhit-tiger-reserve-gets-the-first-tx2-award/articleshow/79391153.cms%7Ctitle=Pilibhit tiger reserve gets the first TX2 award.
  7. ^ a b "Climatic Variations in Pilibhit Tiger reserve".
  8. ^ Anwar, M.; Kumar, H. & Vattakavan, J. (2010). "Range extension of rusty-spotted cat to the Indian Terai". Cat News (53): 25–26.
  9. ^ Mukherjee, A. (2022). "Srijit Mukherji's Sherdil The Pilibhit Saga to release on June 24, Pankaj Tripathi shares pics". India Today. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Sherdil The Pilibhit Saga trailer: Pankaj Tripathi goes on a suicide mission in Srijit Mukherji's satire inspired by real-life events". The Indian Express. 2022.
  11. ^ "Pankaj Tripathi joins Srijit Mukherji's next". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Pankaj Tripathi starts shooting for 'Sherdil' film". The New Indian Express.

External links[edit]

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