Feb 07, 2025
Khushi PatelThe tiger, India’s national animal, is most populous in Madhya Pradesh, earning it the distinction as the country’s ‘Tiger State’. Out of a national population of 3,682, an estimated 785 tigers are found in the central subdivision alone, according to the 2022 Tiger Census. Karnataka, which is the second-most densely inhabited state, trails at around 563.
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Madhya Pradesh was declared the Tiger State of India in 2018, reclaiming its long-held lead from Karnataka, which temporarily had most tigers since 2011. While a population difference of just two separated the states in the previous census, it had widened substantially over the four-year period that followed.
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Madhya Pradesh has the highest forest cover, the most number of national parks, and more tiger reserves than any other Indian state. Kanha, Satpura and Bandhavgarh, some of the most renowned among its eight reserves, are all located entirely within the state, which shares Pench with Maharashtra.
Credit: Kitti Kahotong
Kanha National Park, declared a tiger reserve in 1973, was among the nine original reserves when the government of India launched Project Tiger. Located in Maikal Range of Satpura, and covering 970 square kilometres, it is Madhya Pradesh’s largest national park and one of Asia’s best-maintained reserves.
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The forests of Madhya Pradesh, which inspired British author Rudyard Kipling to write his celebrated work Jungle Book, have seen painstaking tiger-conservation efforts. Some of these initiatives include habitat restoration, scientific monitoring, anti-poaching measures, and the involvement of local communities.
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