Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary to be a tiger reserve

Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary to be a tiger reserve 

• The decks have been cleared to notify the Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district as a tiger reserve. The approval from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is expected at any time now. 
• A presentation of the final proposal was made before the NTCA early this month and the final notification will be made by the State government once the NTCA gives its formal approval.Once notified, the Chamarajanagar district will have a rare distinction in the country of having three tiger reserves. It already has Bandipur and Biligiri Ranganatha Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve within its territorial limits. Also, with this, Karnataka will have six tiger reserves, the others being Nagarahole, Bhadra, and AnshiDandeli, apart from Bandipur and BRT Tiger Reserves
• The sanctuary will be renamed Malai Mahadeshwara Hill Tiger Reserve with a core area of 670.95 sq km spread across Malai Mahadeshwara Reserve Forest, Hanur Reserve Forest and Yediyarahalli Reserve Forest. The sanctuary presently has about 20 tigers. 

Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary

• Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary or Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected Wildlife sanctuary in the Eastern Ghats and is located in the state of Karnataka in India. It is named after the presiding deity "Lord Male Mahadeshwara" of the famed Malai Mahadeshwara Hills Temple located within the sanctuary. The sanctuary lies in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. It is at a distance of 140 km (87 mi) from Mysuru and 210 km (130 mi) from Bengaluru.
• The sanctuary was established in 2013 with an area of 906.187 km2 (349.881 sq mi) out of the total area of 1,224 km2 (473 sq mi).
• The sanctuary is part of a contiguous tiger habitat, located very close to the tri-junction of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The sanctuary has Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka) to its North and East, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu) to its South and Biligirirangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) to its West.

Source: The Hindu