The Palamau Tiger Reserve is a

tiger reserve Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered tiger. The project was initiated in 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. As of March 2025, there ...

in India and the only one in the state of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

. It covers a total area of in the

Palamu Palamu may refer to: * Palamu division, a division of Jharkhand state, India * Palamu district, a district in Palamu division * Palamu Fort, forts in the forests of the Palamau Tiger Reserve * Palamu (Lok Sabha constituency) a parliamentary const ...

, Latehar and

Garhwa district Garhwa District is one of the twenty-four districts in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Jharkhand. The Garhwa District is part of the Palamu division, Palamu division and has its administrative headquarters in Garhwa City. Hist ...

s. It comprises the Betla National Park. It is one of the first nine tiger reserves in India declared in 1973.

History

Palamu Tiger Reserve was one of the first nine

Tiger Reserve Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered tiger. The project was initiated in 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. As of March 2025, there ...

of India in 1973-74. The count of wildlife in the region was done in the year of 1894-95 and 1896-97 by DME Sundar. The first tiger census carried out in the reserve based on pugmark in 1932 under supervision of Palamu divisional forest officer JW Nicholson. The area in the

Palamu district Palamu district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand, India. It was formed in 1892. The administrative headquarters of the district is Medininagar, situated on the South Koel River, Koel River. Palamu district lies in north-western par ...

was set aside as a protected area in 1947 under the Indian Forests Act. It was declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 1960. In 1973, the area was set up as the Palamu Tiger Reserve. Before the formation of the reserve, the area was used for cattle grazing and camping; it was acutely prone to forest fire. In 2022, the reserve was reported to be largely under Naxal control. The area of Budha Pahad in the reserve was freed from maoists in September 2022 after the special operation.

Geography

Palamau Tiger Reserve is located in the Palamu, Latehar and

in the state of Jharkhand and has a total area of with a core area of and a buffer area of . It comprises the area of Palamau Wildlife Sanctuary and of Betla National Park. It includes Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary. It is connected to

Guru Ghasidas - Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh, situated across the districts of Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur (MCB), Korea, Surajpur, and Balrampur districts. This tiger reserve covers a total area of , includi ...

to the west and

Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Lawalong CD block in the Chatra subdivision of the Chatra district in the state of Jharkhand, India. History Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary was earlier under the control of the Raja of Ramgarh and oth ...

to the east. Ramandag, Latoo and Kujrum are forest villages in the core area. Most of the villages are small; one village, Meral, consisted in 1993 of just of land, 9 families and 78 people. Only seven of the villages were in existence in 1923. In 2023, diversion of forest land for non-forest use was approved by the Union ministry of forests, climate change and environment for the relocation of Kujrum, Latu and Jaigir villages to outside the core area.

Flora

Palamu Tiger Reserve consists of

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...

s of sal and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

tree. It consists of dry mixed forest, dry and moist sal forest, moist mixed forest and savannah sal forest. It has 970 species of plants, 17 species of grass and 56 species of medicinal plants.

Fauna

Palamau Tiger Reserve hosts 47 mammal species and 174 bird species. Mammals include

chital The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also called spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, mal ...

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, South China and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe huntin ...

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of three extant recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, native to mainland Asia. The species is smaller than the African elephant species with a convex back and the highest body po ...

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Boselaphus'', which was ...

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

mouse deer Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small, even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, and are the only living members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are k ...

four-horned antelope The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), also called ''chousingha'', is a small bovid antelope native to central, South and Western India, along with a smaller population in Nepal. The sole member of the genus ''Tetracerus'', t ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

Indian wolf The Indian wolf (''Canis lupus pallipes'') is a subspecies of gray wolf that ranges from Southwest Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It is intermediate in size between the Himalayan wolf and the Arabian wolf, and lacks the former's luxuriant wint ...

Indian leopard The Indian leopard (''Panthera pardus fusca'') is a subspecies of the leopard (''P. pardus''). It is widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. It is threatened by illegal trade of skins and body parts, and persecution due to human-leopard ...

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus''), also known as the Indian bear, is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of ...

striped hyena The striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena'') is a species of hyena native to North and East Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Hyaena''. It is listed by the IU ...

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

langurs The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a family (biology), subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genus, genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. So ...

small Indian civet The small Indian civet (''Viverricula indica'') is a civet native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its widespread distribution, widespread habitat use and healthy populations living in agr ...

Indian pangolin The Indian pangolin (''Manis crassicaudata''), also called thick-tailed pangolin and scaly anteater, is a pangolin native to the Indian subcontinent. Like other pangolins, it has large, overlapping Scale (zoology), scales on its body which act as ...

Indian porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. De ...

Indian grey mongoose The Indian grey mongoose or Asian grey mongoose (''Urva edwardsii'') is a mongoose species native to the Indian subcontinent and West Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The grey mongoose inhabits open forests, scrubland ...

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native from the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Caucasus to parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, ...

and

smooth-coated otter The smooth-coated otter (''Lutrogale perspicillata'') is a freshwater otter species from regions of South and Southwest Asia, with the majority of its numbers found in Southeast Asia. It has been ranked as " vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List since ...

. There are over 174 species of birds in the reserve including

peafowl Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

, red jungle fowl,

Oriental pied hornbill The oriental pied hornbill (''Anthracoceros albirostris'') is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the family Bucerotidae. Two other common names for this species are Sunda pied hornbill (''convexus'') and Mala ...

crested serpent-eagle The crested serpent eagle (''Spilornis cheela'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that is found in forested habitats across tropical Asia. Within its widespread range across the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and East Asia, there are considera ...

, pied kingfisher,

white-throated kingfisher The white-throated kingfisher (''Halcyon smyrnensis'') also known as the white-breasted kingfisher is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to China and Indonesia. This kingfisher is a ...

, forest owlet,

black partridge The black partridge (''Melanoperdix niger''), also known as the black wood partridge, is a small (up to 27 cm long) partridge with a thick Beak, bill, grey legs and dark brown Iris (anatomy), iris. It is the only member of the monotypic gen ...

white-necked stork The Asian woolly-necked stork or Asian woollyneck (''Ciconia episcopus'') is a species of large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It breeds singly, or in small loose colonies. It is distributed in a wide variety of habitats including ...

, black ibis, grey-headed swamphen,

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

wagtail Wagtails are a group of passerine birds that form the genus ''Motacilla'' in the family Motacillidae. The common name and genus name are derived from their characteristic tail pumping behaviour. Together with the pipits and longclaws they form ...

dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

drongo A drongo is a member of the family Dicruridae of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 28 species in the family are placed in a single genus, ''Dicrurus''. Drongos are mostly black or dark grey, short-legged birds, with an upright stan ...

Asian openbill The Asian openbill or Asian openbill stork (''Anastomus oscitans'') is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. This distinctive stork is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is greyish or white with glossy ...

red-wattled lapwing The red-wattled lapwing (''Vanellus indicus'') is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicat ...

, Eurasian moorhen,

gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic Range (biology), distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is bird migration, migratory an ...

, little cormorant,

grey wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail (disambiguation), yellow wagtail but has the yello ...

, pond heron and

little ringed plover The little ringed plover (''Charadrius dubius'') is a small plover. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek ''kharadrios'' a bird found in river ...

. In 1973, 50 tigers were thought to be living in the Palamau Tiger Reserve, which came down to 38 in 2005. The 2009 tiger census based on DNA analysis indicated that there were just six tigers in the reserve. The forest department claimed that, since the core area was almost inaccessible due to difficult terrain and the Naxalite presence, the census may not have found all the tigers. The decreased game and hunting opportunities suggest that there are only six tigers in 2012. In 2018, the All India Tiger count recorded no tigers and as per the 2022 census, there was one tiger in the reserve. In January 2025, there were six tigers in the reserve. As per 2022 census, there were 51 leopards in the reserve. As of 1989, 65 Asian elephants were thought to reside in the reserve. In 2017 census, 182 elephants were in the reserve. During the 19th century, the

Asiatic lion The Asiatic lion is a lion population of the subspecies ''Panthera leo leo''. Until the 19th century, it occurred in Saudi Arabia, eastern Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia, and from east of the Indus River in Pakistan to the Bengal region and the Narm ...

were in the Palamu, which are now not found in the area.

Issues

Increased pressure from human activities, including illegal settlement and poaching, has reduced the number of tigers and the ability of the reserve to support more tigers. There are 191 villages in and 207 on the peripheries of the reserve. Around four lakh cattle stray into the reserve in search of fodder which diminishes food for the wild animals of the reserve. The 50 km highway and 20 km railway line passes through the reserve, which creates a threat to wild animals. Several animals, including elephants, deer, bison have been killed in the past due to collusion with trains. Staff shortage is a big problem as many forest guard posts are vacant due to recruitment pending since the 1990s. Monitoring, protection and conservation work is not applied in all regions of this reserve. Naxalites existence along with difficult terrain makes proper surveillance and implementation of conservation measures tough.

References

External links

Palamau Tiger Reserve
{{Tiger Reserves of India Chota Nagpur dry deciduous forests Tiger reserves of India Tourist attractions in Jharkhand Wildlife sanctuaries in Jharkhand Protected areas established in 1973 1973 establishments in Bihar