- The Bihar government has identified forests in Kaimur as a possible site for the state’s second tiger reserve after the Valmiki Tiger Reserve. Kaimur forests are surrounded by three states – Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
- The work to develop the Kaimur forests into a tiger reserve had been assigned to divisional forest officer (DFO). However, before it is declared as a new tiger reserve, the state government has to some ground works. These include habitat improvement, safety and security measures for tigers in Kaimur. It is a long process that is bound to take some time.
- The need for a second reserve arose as the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in West Champaran district was nearing saturation point. Bihar’s sole tiger reserve currently has the capacity to manage nearly 50 tigers. According to the latest Tiger Census of 2018, there are 31 tigers in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve.
- The first initiative to develop Kaimur into a second tiger reserve was made in 2018 by the then Kaimur District Forest Office Satyajeet Kumar, who had sent a proposal to the forest department after he sighted two tigers, their pug marks and the corpses of deer and other prey animals killed by tigers in 2017. The forests of Kaimur also include Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary.
About Valmiki Tiger Reserve
- Valmiki Tiger Reserve forms the eastern most limit of the Himalayan Terai forests in India, and is the only tiger reserve of Bihar.
- Situated in the Gangetic Plains bio-geographic zone of the country, the forest has combination of bhabar and terai tracts.
- Valmiki Tiger Reserve lies in the north-westernmost West Champaran district of Bihar. This reserve is near the Chitwan National Park of Nepal.
- Wild mammals found in the forests of Valmiki Tiger Reserve are Tiger, Sloth bear, Leopard, Wild dog, Bison, Wild boar etc. Several species of deer and antelopes viz barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, sambar and blue bull are also found here.
- In Madanpur forest block large number of Indian flying foxes (bat) can be sighted.
