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PENCH TIGER RESERVE
Recently, a female cub of ‘man-eater’ tigress Avni has been released into the wild in the Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) of Maharashtra.
Important points:
- It is located in Nagpur District of Maharashtra and named after the pristine Pench River.
- The Penchriver flows right through the middle of the park.
- It descends from north to south, thereby dividing the reserve into equal eastern and western parts.
- PTR is the joint pride of both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
- The Reserve is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hills in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh, and continues in Nagpur district in Maharashtra as a separate Sanctuary.
- It was declared a National Park by the Government of Maharashtra in 1975 and the identity of a tiger reserve was granted to it in the year 1998- 1999.
- However, PTR Madhya Pradesh was granted the same status in 1992-1993.
- It is one of the major Protected Areas of Satpura-Maikal ranges of the Central Highlands.
- It is among the sites notified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) of India.
- The IBA is a programme of Birdlife International which aims to ide ntify, monitor and protect a global network of IBAs for conservation of the world’s birds and associated diversity.
Flora:
- Th e green cover is thickly spread throughout the reserve. A mixture of Southern dry broadleaf teak forests and tropical mixeddeciduous forests is present.
- Shrubs, climbers and trees are also frequently present. Some of them are unique varieties and possess medicinal as well as healing properties.
- Bamboo plantations are also present nearby the water banks.
Fauna:
- These include – sloth bear, jackal, nilgai, wild dog etc.
- This comprises peafowl, magpie robin, pintail, drongo, unia, myna etc.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,DTE