Biodiversity Conservation with Special Reference to Kanha Tiger Reserve

Kanha Tiger Reserve is one of the most promising centres of in-situ biodiversity conservation in the country. The reserve harbours, besides a wide spectrum of wildlife species, including some which figure prominently in the I.U.C.N.list of the threatened species, an endangered population of the hard ground Barasingha (Cervus duvauceli branderi), a sub-species endemic to the Kanha, and the Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris). Over the years the wildlife management practices for the conservation of wildlife in general and the above two flagship species in particular have proven very effective in reducing to a great extent the adverse effects of the known proximate causes of the loss of biodiversity in the Wildlife Reserve. The long history of managerial input and intervention, involving an appropriate combination of the habitat-specific and species-specific approaches along with the parkpeople cooperation and stringent protection, has contributed tremendously to the understanding of biodiversity conservation which emphasizes that calculated and small disturbances lead to the highest species diversity, whereas large and hasty disturbances cause a decrease in natural species biodiversity.