India’s newest Tiger Reserve, No. 4 in Chhattisgarh:

• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the Chhattisgarh government’s proposal to declare the combined areas of the Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve.
• The new Reserve is located in the northern part of the state, bordering Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
• This will be the fourth Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh, after the Udanti-Sitanadi, Achanakmar, and Indravati Reserves.

Guru Ghasidas National Park :

• Guru Ghasidas National Park was the last known habitat of the Asiatic cheetah in the country. Originally part of the Sanjay Dubri National Park, Guru Ghasidas Park was created as a separate entity in Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja region after the formation of the state in 2001.

Benefits:

• Wildlife experts and activists in the state believe that turning Guru Ghasidas into a Tiger Reserve is important because it connects Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh and provides a corridor for tigers to move between the Bandhavgarh and Palamau Tiger Reserves.
• Bhoramdeo, on the other hand, connects the Indravati Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh with the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and, experts say, the decision to create a Tiger Reserve at Guru Ghasidas National Park should not affect attempts to notify Bhoramdeo as a Tiger Reserve too.