Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 24 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister will release a dozen turtles into the Bamner River at the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve on the occasion of his birthday on Wednesday.
CM Yadav will also perform the groundbreaking ceremony for a soft-release 'boma' to facilitate the rehabilitation of cheetahs in the tiger reserve.
A soft-release boma is a specialized, large, fenced enclosure used in wildlife conservation to acclimatize animals to a new environment before full release. It enables, behavioral and physiological adaptation, and increasing survival rates compared to direct "hard" release.
According to an official release, Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve is the largest tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Spanning 2,339 square kilometres, it connects 72 villages across the districts of Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur. It is the 7th tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh and the 54th in India, and was declared a tiger reserve in 2023. At present, the reserve is home to 32 tigers. It is also known as the land of wolves, as it is home to one of the highest populations of wolves.
The tiger reserve has terrain suitable for cheetahs, similar to landscapes found in South Africa. As a result of which, Cheetahs will soon be brought here from Kuno National Park for rehabilitation. The sanctuary is also home to around 240 species of birds, which are a major attraction.
Additionally, a wide variety of wildlife are found in the tiger reserve, including tigers, leopards, wolves, bears, jackals, hyenas, foxes, wild boars, nilgai, four-horned antelope (chousingha), blackbuck, chinkara, turtles and crocodiles.
Along with wildlife conservation, the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve offers significant potential for tourism and employment generation in the region.
Notably, the reserve will be the third destination for the Cheetahs in the state after Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and Kuno National Park. Currently, there are 53 Cheetahs residing in the state, including 33 Indian-born cheetah cubs. Of these, 50 are in Kuno National Park, and three are in Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
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