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The National Board for Wildlife's Standing Committee has approved a proposal to redraw the Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) boundaries, expanding it slightly but reducing the buffer zone. This move could potentially enable the reopening of over 50 marble, dolomite, limestone, and masonry mines around Sariska that were shut down by a Supreme Court order in May 2024.
About Sariska Tiger Reserve
- Location: Alwar district, Rajasthan, India, part of the Aravalli hill range and Northern Aravalli leopard and wildlife corridor.
- Area: Approximately 1,203 sq km total; about 881 sq km as core tiger habitat and 322 sq km as buffer zone.
- History: Declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958; became a Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger in 1978–79; declared a national park in 1982.
- Tiger Status: Tigers were locally extinct by 2004 due to poaching; successful reintroduction began in 2008 with tigers relocated from Ranthambhore; current population estimated around 20–30 tigers.
- Habitat: Dry deciduous forests, scrub-thorn, grasslands, rocky terrain of Aravalli hills; semi-arid climate with hot summers and monsoon rains (~700 mm annually).
- Biodiversity: Besides tigers, home to leopards, striped hyenas, caracals, sambar, chital, nilgai, wild boar, and over 200 bird species including peafowl and raptors.
- Conservation Challenges: Mining activities, livestock grazing, human villages inside buffer areas, and traffic threaten habitat and prey availability.
- Significance: First tiger reserve globally to successfully reintroduce tigers after local extinction, showcasing a major conservation achievement.
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