Palamau Tiger Reserve

Palamu Tiger Reserve was one of the first nine Tiger Reserve of India in 1973–74. The count of wildlife in the region was done in the year of 1894–95 and 1896–97 by DME Sundar. The first tiger census carried out in the reserve based on pugmark in 1932 under supervision of Palamu divisional forest officer JW Nicholson. The area in the Palamu district was set aside as a protected area in 1947 under the Indian Forests Act. It was declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 1960. In 1973, the area was set up as the Palamu Tiger Reserve. Before the formation of the reserve, the area was used for cattle grazing and camping; it was acutely prone to forest fire. In 2022, the reserve was reported to be largely under Naxal control. The area of Budha Pahad in the reserve was freed from Maoists in September 2022 after the special operation. == Geography==

, the highest waterfall in Jharkhand in Palamau Tiger Reserve Palamau Tiger Reserve is located in the Palamu, Latehar and Garhwa district in the state of Jharkhand and has a total area of with a core area of and a buffer area of . It is connected to Guru Ghasidas - Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve to the west and Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary to the east. Ramandag, Latoo and Kujrum are forest villages in the core area. Most of the villages are small; one village, Meral, consisted in 1993 of just of land, 9 families and 78 people. ==Flora==

Palamu Tiger Reserve consists of deciduous forests of sal and bamboo tree. It consists of dry mixed forest, dry and moist sal forest, moist mixed forest and savannah sal forest. It has 970 species of plants, 17 species of grass and 56 species of medicinal plants. == Fauna ==

Palamau Tiger Reserve hosts 47 mammal species and 174 bird species. In 1973, 50 tigers were thought to be living in the Palamau Tiger Reserve, which came down to 38 in 2005. The 2009 tiger census based on DNA analysis indicated that there were just six tigers in the reserve. The forest department claimed that, since the core area was almost inaccessible due to difficult terrain and the Naxalite presence, the census may not have found all the tigers. In January 2025, there were six tigers in the reserve. As per 2022 census, there were 51 leopards in the reserve. As of 1989, 65 Asian elephants were thought to reside in the reserve. In 2017 census, 182 elephants were in the reserve. During the 19th century, the Asiatic lion were in the Palamu, which are now not found in the area. ==Issues==

Increased pressure from human activities, including illegal settlement and poaching, has reduced the number of tigers and the ability of the reserve to support more tigers. There are 191 villages in and 207 on the peripheries of the reserve. Around four lakh cattle stray into the reserve in search of fodder which diminishes food for the wild animals of the reserve. The 50 km highway and 20 km railway line passes through the reserve, which creates a threat to wild animals. Several animals, including elephants, deer, bison have been killed in the past due to collision with trains. Staff shortage is a big problem as many forest guard posts are vacant due to recruitment pending since the 1990s. Monitoring, protection and conservation work is not applied in all regions of this reserve. Naxalites existence along with difficult terrain makes proper surveillance and implementation of conservation measures tough. ==References==