Rapid Fire
SC Calls for Stronger Tiger Conservation Measures
- 19 Nov 2025
- 3 min read
The Supreme Court of India has directed Uttarakhand to fully restore the Corbett Tiger Reserve after findings of illegal tree-felling and construction, and issued reforms for tiger conservation and management across all States.
- Uttarakhand must restore Corbett, submit a restoration plan within 2 months, demolish illegal structures within 3 months, and file a compliance report within 1 year.
- SC Directive to States:
- SC has ordered all States to notify the core and buffer areas of every tiger reserve within six months, and to declare Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) around these reserves within one year.
- To prepare a Tiger Conservation Plan within three months and directed to ban tiger safaris in core and critical tiger habitats.
- To treat human–wildlife conflict as a potential natural disaster and ensure stronger compensation systems, including an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to victims under the Centrally Sponsored Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme.
Corbett Tiger Reserve
- About: Corbett Tiger Reserve is Asia’s first national park established in 1936, renowned for its biodiversity including the world's highest density of tigers.
- It was established as Hailey National Park and later renamed in 1956 to honour Jim Corbett, the hunter-turned-conservationist who helped create it.
- It became the first national park to be included under Project Tiger in 1973.
- Location: Corbett lies in the Himalayan foothills of Uttarakhand. It has an undulating landscape with several valleys through which the Ramganga, Pallaen, and Sonanadi rivers flow.
- The reserve falls largely in the Bhabar and lower Shivalik region, known for its porous soil and deep water table.
- Flora & Fauna: Corbett’s vegetation includes moist and dry deciduous forests dominated by sal, mixed woodland, riparian vegetation, and shrub species.
- The reserve is known for its open grasslands, called chaurs, formed from old settlements and clearings. Important chaurs such as Dhikala and Bijrani support rich wildlife.
- Tigers and elephants are the flagship species, accompanied by leopards, smaller carnivores, sambar, hog deer, spotted deer, and a variety of birds and reptiles such as gharials and crocodiles.
| Read more: Corbett Tiger Reserve: Uttarakhand |
