M M Hills Wildlife Sanctuary

WHY IN NEWS?

The decks have been cleared to notify the Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district as a tiger reserve.

ABOUT M M HILLS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

• Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected Wildlife sanctuary in the Eastern Ghats and is located in the state of Karnataka in India.
• It is named after the presiding deity "Lord Malai Mahadeshwara" of the famed Malai Mahadeshwara Hills Temple located within the sanctuary.
• The sanctuary lies in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka.
• The sanctuary is part of a contiguous tiger habitat, located very close to the tri-junction of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• The predominant forest type of the sanctuary is dry and moist deciduous forests.
• Indian Elephant is found in good numbers within the sanctuary.
• After the creation of the sanctuary in 2013, the tiger population has been steadily increasing.
• The sanctuary also has other fauna like gaur, wild boar, leopard, dhole, spotted deer, barking deer, sambar, four-horned antelope etc.

TIGER RESERVES IN KARNATAKA

• Once MM Hills Sanctaury is notified as a tiger reserve, Chamarajanagar district will have the rare distinction in the country of having three tiger reserves.
• It already has Bandipur and Biligiri Ranganatha Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve within its territorial limits.
• Also, with this, Karnataka will have six tiger reserves, the others being Nagarahole, Bhadra, and Anshi-Dandeli, apart from Bandipur and BRT Tiger Reserves.
• The sanctuary will be renamed Malai Mahadeshwara Hill Tiger Reserve with a core area of 670.95 sq km spread across Malai Mahadeshwara Reserve Forest, Hanur Reserve Forest and Yediyarahalli Reserve Forest.

Prelims Question

Q. MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary is located in
a. Karnataka
b. Tamil Nadu
c. Andhra Pradesh
d. Maharashtra

Answer to the Prelims Question