Sundarban Tiger Reserve becomes India’s second largest Tiger Reserve

With an area of 3,629.57 square kilometers, West Bengal’s Sundarban Tiger Reserve has become India’s second largest Tiger Reserve. Three ranges of South 24 Parganas district — Matla, Raidighi, and Ramganga, totaling 1,044.68 square kilometers, have been added to it.

• Under the chairmanship of the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has approved the proposal of the West Bengal government to increase the area of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR).
• After approval of the 1,044.68 square kilometers expansion by the National Board for Wildlife, the Sundarban Tiger Reserve in West Bengal has become the second largest Tiger Reserve in India. The sanctuary now spreads across 3,629.57 square kilometers.
• With this step, the reserve has grown from being India’s seventh largest Tiger Reserve to the second largest Tiger Reserve, which will improve tiger management and potentially increase funding and tourism opportunities.
• Three tiger-inhabited ranges in South 24 Parganas district — Matla, Raidighi, and Ramganga — have been added to the existing expansion of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR).

Largest Sanctuary

• With this expansion, STR now lags slightly behind Andhra Pradesh’s Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (3,727.82 sq. km) in size.
• According to the latest tiger census, Sundarbans has an estimated 101 tigers — 80 inside the current tiger sanctuary and 21 in the nearby forests of South 24 Parganas.

Process of Declaring or Changing Tiger Reserves

• On the advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Tiger Reserves are notified by the state governments under the provisions of Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• According to Section 38W (1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, no alteration of the boundaries of a tiger sanctuary shall be made except on the recommendation of the Tiger Conservation Authority and with the approval of the National Board for Wildlife.

Sundarban Tiger Sanctuary (STR)

• Location: Coastal districts of West Bengal.
• It is the only mangrove forest in the world (apart from Bangladesh) where a significant population of tigers resides. To the south lies the Bay of Bengal.
• On the east, it is bordered by the international boundary with Bangladesh formed by the Harinbhanga, Raimangal, and Kalindi rivers. The western boundary is formed by the Matla River.
• Towards the northwest, the area is bounded by the Bidya and Gomdi rivers. The National Park area of the Tiger Reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve.

Madhav National Park becomes the 58th Tiger Reserve of the country

• On March 9, 2025, the Union Environment Minister declared Madhav National Park of Madhya Pradesh as the 58th Tiger Reserve of the country. This new national park also became the 9th national park of the state to be recognized.
• In December last year, after obtaining in-principle approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Madhya Pradesh’s Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary was declared the 57th Tiger Reserve of the country.

Project Tiger:

• Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation initiative in India launched in 1973. In the first tiger census of 1972, the unreliable pugmark method was used to count 1,827 tigers.
• By 2022, the tiger population is estimated to be 3,167-3,925, reflecting an annual growth rate of 6.1%. Now India is home to three-fourths of the world’s tigers.