The Importance of Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary

The Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary is quite small by any means. It covers an area of just 152 square kilometers. But this is an extremely important forest region, as it serves a corridor that links the central and southern forested regions of the Kanha Tiger Reserve and Tadoba-Andhari.

For those who don’t know – a jungle corridor is as important as the main forest reserve, because it allows the animals to move around freely. For instance, tigers are territorial animals. They live alone except for the mating season, and for a brief while after the birth of cubs. These loners would cover a wide region of the forest and would fight off any other cat entering the area. There is one more thing. Predators such as tigers, hyenas, wild dogs, jackals and foxes would often follow the moving patterns of other wildlife. In other words, they would go wherever the prey went. Tigers in their case of course, remain within their area while they are following the prey.

Elephants too circle the region by rotation, and they have been doing so for centuries. They follow a strict pattern. For instance, if a herd of elephant is in Nagzira now, it might be in Kanha in a couple of months. If the herd is moving in a cycle of 25 years, then this means that the herd will return back to the same region of the forest after 25 years.

The importance of a jungle corridor like Nagzira

A jungle corridor like Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary is really very important. If the corridor didn’t exist, then the animals would not be able to move around freely and follow their moving patterns. They would end up straying into villages and farmlands. This would naturally cause a lot of property and human damage. The animals by nature do not want to enter habited regions. They just get confused when they cannot find the forest in an area where it should have been. They are genetically trained to expect the forest cover.

In recent times, we have often seen many leopards and tigers stray into human populated areas. This is primarily due to habitat loss because of tree felling and the jungle cover vanishing.

So let us all try to protect the Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary and its picturesque landscape is of course a treat for the city eyes as well. We cannot afford to lose the many species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish that call Nagzira home or move through the jungle here.