PENCH TIGER RESERVE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: A leopard cat has been spotted in Maharashtra’s Pench Tiger Reserve for the first time, a senior forest official said recently.

Pench Tiger Reserve

• Location: situated in Maharashtra.
• Geographical Features: The sanctuary spans across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

o The Madhya Pradesh portion lies in the Satpura ranges.

• National Park: Comprising the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, Pench Mowgli Sanctuary, and a buffer zone.

o Designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) of India.

• Rivers: The Pench river flows through the middle of the park.
• Flora: Southern dry broadleaf teak forests and tropical mixed deciduous forests, shrubs, climbers, and medicinal trees, Bamboo plantations thrive near water banks.
• Fauna: Sloth bear, jackal, nilgai, peafowl, magpie robin, and myna.
• Significance:

o Represents the wilderness of the Central Indian Highland.

o Offers excellent habitat for the highly endangered Tiger species.

o Critical for water storage in Totladoh reservoir, supplying Nagpur and generating electricity for Madhya Pradesh.

Leopard Cat

• About: It is a solitary species but has been observed in pairs or with dependent young. It is mainly described as nocturnal and crepuscular.
• Found: Itt occurs throughout most of India, west into Pakistan and Afghanistan, into the Himalayan foothills, across most of China, and north to the Korean peninsula and into the Russian Far East
• Scientific name: Prionailurus bengalensis
• Habitat: forests and jungles in both low country and in hilly, even mountainous areas up to 3,254 metres.
• IUCN Status: Least Concernz.