Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR)

Dec. 8, 2023

In a key archaeological finding, the forest department of Satpura Tiger Reserve recently found a rock painting dating back 10,000 years, in Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram.

About the Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR):

Location:
- It is located in the Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh.
- It is located in the Satpura ranges of the Central Indian Landscape.
- It lies south of the river Narmada.
Satpura, basically meaning "Seven Folds", forms a watershed between the Narmada and Tapti Rivers and is triangular in shape.
It is part of the Deccan bio-geographic zone of India.
It is part of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.
STR is part of one of the largest tiger habitats in the world, extending over 10,000 sq. km along with the forest areas of Betul, Harda, Khandwa, and Melghat forest divisions.
Corridor: It has corridor connectivity with Pench National Park.
The habitat is also an important testimony to human evolution, as it houses more than 50 rock shelters that are almost 1500 to 10,000 years old.
Geological formations include the Deccan trap series, Gondwanas, and Metamorphic rocks.
Flora:
- This reserve is largely made up of mixed forests with a sizable proportion of Sal and Teak.
- These mixed forests consist of tree species like jamun, baheda, palash, mahua, saja, bija, tendu, arjun, semal, salai, kusum, achar, etc.
- Twenty-six species of the Himalayan region and 42 species of the Nilgiri area are found. Hence, STR is also known as the northern extremity of the Western Ghats.
Fauna: Tigers, leopards, spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, chousingha, Indian gaur, blue bull, and jungle cats, along with co-predators, birds, reptiles, and fish, are also found.