Tiger Reserve Cards, State by State

Madhya Pradesh (9 reserves — the most of any state)

CARD — Kanha: see the founding-nine entry above; also the reserve popularly said to have inspired Kipling's Jungle Book setting. CARD — Bandhavgarh: historically one of the highest tiger-density reserves in India, built around a hill fort believed to date back over two millennia; famous for the white tiger lineage that originated here (the white tiger "Mohan" was captured near Bandhavgarh in 1951). CARD — Panna: a cautionary tale turned success story — Panna lost its entire tiger population to poaching by around 2009, becoming a byword for reserve-management failure, before a structured reintroduction programme rebuilt its tiger numbers from zero, making it a widely cited case study in recovery. CARD — Pench: straddles the Madhya Pradesh–Maharashtra border and is another landscape linked to Kipling's Jungle Book (the Seoni district setting); known for open grasslands that make sightings comparatively easy. CARD — Satpura: part of the Satpura range's core protected cluster, prized among naturalists as the best reserve in central India for spotting sloth bears and for its rugged, less-commercialised trekking-style safaris. CARD — Sanjay-Dubri: declared in 2011, a lesser-known reserve in the Sanjay National Park landscape bordering Chhattisgarh, useful as an example of the post-2006 wave of NTCA-approved new reserves. CARD — Veerangana Durgavati: declared in 2023 and named for the Gond queen Rani Durgavati, a sixteenth-century warrior-ruler who resisted Mughal expansion — an easy "named after a historical figure" trap answer. CARD — Ratapani: declared in December 2024, located close to Bhopal, making it one of the most accessible reserves to a state capital. CARD — Madhav: declared in March 2025, the 58th and newest Tiger Reserve in India, built around the historic Madhav National Park near Shivpuri, once a Scindia-dynasty hunting reserve.

Hook: MP is "Tiger State of India" by both reserve count and tiger population.

Memory hook — "Kind Bears Prefer Peanut Snacks, Some Very Rare Munchies" → Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Pench, Satpura, Sanjay-Dubri, Veerangana Durgavati, Ratapani, Madhav. Nine words for nine reserves, in the same order as the cards above.

Practice Recall: Name all 9 Tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh before reading on... (Answer: Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Pench, Satpura, Sanjay-Dubri, Veerangana Durgavati, Ratapani, Madhav.)

Maharashtra (6 reserves)

CARD — Melghat: see founding-nine entry above. CARD — Tadoba-Andhari: Maharashtra's oldest and largest National Park, now its best-known and most tourist-heavy Tiger Reserve, often used in exam questions about the state's flagship reserve. CARD — Pench (Maharashtra portion): shares its landscape and Kipling connection with the Madhya Pradesh Pench entry above; the two are managed as linked but separately notified reserves across the state border. CARD — Sahyadri: declared 2012 (notified as a reserve after some years of proposal), located in the Western Ghats — a rare Tiger Reserve inside the Sahyadri hill range rather than central India's usual sal-and-teak belt. CARD — Nawegaon-Nagzira: declared 2013, formed by merging the Nawegaon and Nagzira wildlife sanctuaries, known for its numerous small lakes and consequent birdlife alongside tigers. CARD — Bor: declared 2014 and the smallest Tiger Reserve in India by core area, a useful "smallest" trap answer to pair against Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam's "largest."

Hook: Tadoba-Andhari is Maharashtra's oldest and largest National Park, now also its best-known Tiger Reserve.

Memory hook — "My Tiger Prefers Sahyadri's Naughty Bears" → Melghat, Tadoba-Andhari, Pench, Sahyadri, Nawegaon-Nagzira, Bor.

Practice Recall: Name all 6 Tiger Reserves in Maharashtra before reading on... (Answer: Melghat, Tadoba-Andhari, Pench, Sahyadri, Nawegaon-Nagzira, Bor.)

Karnataka (5 reserves)

CARD — Bandipur: see founding-nine entry above. CARD — Bhadra: notable as the site of one of India's most frequently cited successful, fully voluntary village relocation programmes, used as a model for how core-zone resettlement should be conducted elsewhere. CARD — Nagarahole (Rajiv Gandhi National Park): renowned for a comparatively high density of melanistic leopards (popularly "black panthers"), photographed extensively here and used in wildlife documentaries. CARD — BRT (Biligiri Ranganatha Temple Hills): unusual for combining a wildlife sanctuary with an active Hindu pilgrimage temple to Lord Ranganatha inside its boundary — one of very few reserves where organised religious tourism and core tiger habitat legally overlap. CARD — Kali (formerly Anshi-Dandeli): located in the Western Ghats along the Kali river, valued for its dense evergreen forest cover and as a corridor link toward Goa's forests.

Hook: BRT is unusual for combining a wildlife sanctuary with an active pilgrimage temple inside it.

Memory hook — "Bandipur's Buddy Nags Before Kali" → Bandipur, Bhadra ("Buddy"), Nagarahole, BRT ("Before"), Kali.

Practice Recall: Name all 5 Tiger Reserves in Karnataka before reading on... (Answer: Bandipur, Bhadra, Nagarahole, BRT, Kali.)

Rajasthan (5 reserves)

CARD — Ranthambore: see founding-nine entry above. CARD — Sariska: made history twice — first as the site of India's total, undetected local tiger extinction (discovered 2004–05, the shock that triggered the Tiger Task Force and the NTCA's creation), and second as the site of the first successful tiger reintroduction after a complete local extinction (from 2008 onward, tigers translocated in from Ranthambore). CARD — Mukundara Hills: declared 2013, formed around the Darrah, Jawahar Sagar, and Chambal wildlife sanctuaries; positioned as a potential second reintroduction site to spread Rajasthan's tiger population beyond Ranthambore and Sariska. CARD — Ramgarh Vishdhari: declared 2022 (some sources cite the sanctuary's earlier notification, with tiger reserve status following), created explicitly to relieve tiger overcrowding pressure from Ranthambore, whose core area is considered near saturation. CARD — Dholpur-Karauli: declared 2023, Rajasthan's newest, intended as a further corridor and dispersal reserve linking Ranthambore-origin tigers toward the Chambal ravines.

Hook: Sariska made history as the first reserve where tigers were successfully reintroduced after a total local extinction (2008).

Memory hook — "Royal Sariska Monkeys Ram Doors" → Ranthambore, Sariska, Mukundara Hills, Ramgarh Vishdhari, Dholpur-Karauli.

Practice Recall: Name all 5 Tiger Reserves in Rajasthan before reading on... (Answer: Ranthambore, Sariska, Mukundara Hills, Ramgarh Vishdhari, Dholpur-Karauli.)

Tamil Nadu (5 reserves)

CARD — Kalakad-Mundanthurai: the southernmost Tiger Reserve on the Indian mainland, in the Western Ghats' Agasthyamalai hills, notable for exceptionally high rainfall and endemic amphibian diversity. CARD — Anamalai: named for the "elephant hills" (Anamalai literally translates to elephant-hill), reflecting the landscape's dual importance for both elephants and tigers. CARD — Mudumalai: sits at the tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, entirely within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve — a useful example of a Tiger Reserve nested inside a Biosphere Reserve. CARD — Sathyamangalam: declared 2013, a critical forest corridor connecting the Western Ghats' Nilgiris cluster to the Eastern Ghats, historically significant as the operating territory of the bandit-turned-folk-figure Veerappan. CARD — Srivilliputhur-Megamalai: declared 2021 (Tamil Nadu's newest), formed by merging the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary with Megamalai, named partly for the endangered grizzled giant squirrel it also protects.

Hook: Mudumalai sits at the tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Memory hook — "Kalakad Ate My Sathya's Snacks" → Kalakad-Mundanthurai, Anamalai, Mudumalai, Sathyamangalam, Srivilliputhur-Megamalai ("Snacks").

Practice Recall: Name all 5 Tiger Reserves in Tamil Nadu before reading on... (Answer: Kalakad-Mundanthurai, Anamalai, Mudumalai, Sathyamangalam, Srivilliputhur-Megamalai.)

Assam (4 reserves)

CARD — Manas: see founding-nine entry above. CARD — Kaziranga: globally more famous for hosting roughly two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhinoceros population, but it also records one of India's highest tiger densities — a frequent "wait, Kaziranga is a Tiger Reserve too?" trap fact. CARD — Nameri: declared 2000, on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border along the Jia Bhoroli river, known for its white-water rafting tourism alongside wildlife tourism. CARD — Orang: declared 2016, sometimes called a "mini Kaziranga" for its similar rhino-plus-tiger floodplain grassland ecosystem on the Brahmaputra's northern bank.

Hook: Kaziranga is more famous for rhinos, but holds one of India's highest tiger densities too.

Memory hook — "Manas Keeps Nameri Orange" → Manas, Kaziranga ("Keeps"), Nameri, Orang.

Practice Recall: Name all 4 Tiger Reserves in Assam before reading on... (Answer: Manas, Kaziranga, Nameri, Orang.)

Chhattisgarh (4 reserves)

CARD — Indravati: also protects the wild buffalo (wild water buffalo), a species now critically endangered in India with a tiny surviving population, making Indravati as important for that species as for tigers; it has also been affected by left-wing extremism-related access restrictions. CARD — Udanti-Sitanadi: declared around 2008–09, adjoining Indravati and sharing its wild-buffalo conservation relevance, forming a contiguous central Indian tiger landscape with Odisha's forests nearby. CARD — Achanakmar: declared 2009, located in the Maikal hills and forming one half of the Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve (the other half lying in Madhya Pradesh) — another good example of a Tiger Reserve nested inside a Biosphere Reserve. CARD — Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla: declared November 2024, one of India's most recent reserves and among its largest by area, named for the nineteenth-century social reformer and Satnami sect founder Guru Ghasidas.

Hook: Indravati also protects the wild buffalo, a species now critically endangered.

Memory hook — "Indra Used Achanakmar's Guru" → Indravati, Udanti-Sitanadi, Achanakmar, Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla.

Practice Recall: Name all 4 Tiger Reserves in Chhattisgarh before reading on... (Answer: Indravati, Udanti-Sitanadi, Achanakmar, Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla.)

Uttar Pradesh (3 reserves)

CARD — Dudhwa: declared 2010 (park itself much older), borders Nepal's Bardia landscape and shares its swamp-deer (barasingha) habitat across that border, functioning as a cross-border conservation link. CARD — Pilibhit: declared 2014, a terai grassland reserve on the Indo-Nepal border known for recurring man-animal conflict cases involving tigers straying into sugarcane fields, a frequently discussed real-world example of core-buffer edge conflict. CARD — Ranipur: declared 2022, Uttar Pradesh's newest, located in the Bundelkhand region — a drier, rockier landscape than UP's terai reserves, making it useful as a "not every UP reserve is terai grassland" trap answer.

Hook: Dudhwa borders Nepal and shares its swamp-deer habitat across the border.

Memory hook — "Ducks Prefer Rain" → Dudhwa, Pilibhit, Ranipur.

Practice Recall: Name all 3 Tiger Reserves in Uttar Pradesh before reading on... (Answer: Dudhwa, Pilibhit, Ranipur.)

Arunachal Pradesh (3 reserves)

CARD — Namdapha: declared 1983, the only reserve in India sheltering all four big cat species found in the country together — tiger, leopard, snow leopard, and clouded leopard — owing to its extreme altitudinal range from lowland rainforest to alpine zones. CARD — Pakke: declared 2012, notable for a community-driven conservation model involving the local Nyishi tribe and for its hornbill conservation programme running alongside tiger protection. CARD — Kamlang: declared 2017, one of the more remote and least-visited reserves in India, bordering Myanmar and China, valued for its largely undisturbed old-growth forest.

Hook: Namdapha is the only reserve in India sheltering all four big cat species.

Memory hook — "Nam Packs Kam" → Namdapha, Pakke, Kamlang.

Practice Recall: Name all 3 Tiger Reserves in Arunachal Pradesh before reading on... (Answer: Namdapha, Pakke, Kamlang.)

West Bengal (2 reserves)

CARD — Sundarbans: see founding-nine entry above. CARD — Buxa: declared 2009 (park itself older), lies along the historic "Silk Route" through the Bhutan foothills, and has recorded very few confirmed tiger sightings in recent years despite reserve status — a real point of conservation debate about whether it still holds a viable resident tiger population.

Hook: Buxa lies along the historic "Silk Route" through the Bhutan foothills.

Kerala (2 reserves)

CARD — Periyar: wraps entirely around an artificial lake formed by the 1895 Mullaperiyar Dam, an unusual case of a colonial-era engineering project becoming the centrepiece of a modern tiger habitat, and also the site of long-running Kerala-Tamil Nadu inter-state water disputes over the same dam. CARD — Parambikulam: declared 2009, known for ancient teak plantations including a specimen called "Kannimara" believed to be one of the oldest and largest teak trees in Asia.

Hook: Periyar's tiger reserve wraps entirely around an artificial lake formed by the 1895 Mullaperiyar Dam.

Telangana (2 reserves)

CARD — Kawal: declared 2012, one of Telangana's two reserves, part of the central Indian tiger landscape linking toward Maharashtra's forests. CARD — Amrabad: declared 2015, the second-largest Tiger Reserve in India by area, sharing a border with (and historically once part of the same landscape as) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam before Telangana's 2014 bifurcation from Andhra Pradesh split the combined reserve's administration.

Hook: Amrabad is the second-largest Tiger Reserve in India by area.

Uttarakhand (2 reserves)

CARD — Corbett: see founding-nine entry above. CARD — Rajaji: declared 2015 (park itself much older, formed by merging three sanctuaries in 1983), together with Corbett forms one of North India's most important elephant-and-tiger corridors along the Shivalik foothills.

Hook: together they form one of North India's most important elephant-and-tiger corridors.

Odisha (2 reserves)

CARD — Similipal: see founding-nine entry above. CARD — Satkosia: attempted India's first inter-state tiger relocation project (a tiger and tigress translocated in from Madhya Pradesh in 2018); the project did not succeed as planned — one animal was killed and the relocation was eventually called off — making Satkosia a frequently-cited case study in what can go wrong in translocation-based conservation management.

Hook: Satkosia's translocation attempt is a widely cited case study in what NOT to do.

Andhra Pradesh (1 reserve)

CARD — Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam: India's largest Tiger Reserve by area, built around the Krishna river gorge and the Nagarjunsagar dam reservoir; its sheer size makes core-area patrolling and anti-poaching enforcement especially resource-intensive.

Hook: India's largest Tiger Reserve by area.

Bihar (1 reserve)

CARD — Valmiki: declared 2012 (park itself established 1990), Bihar's only National Park and Tiger Reserve, on the Nepal border, forming part of the same terai tiger landscape that includes UP's Dudhwa and Nepal's Chitwan National Park.

Hook: Bihar's only National Park and Tiger Reserve, on the Nepal border.

Jharkhand (1 reserve)

CARD — Palamau: see founding-nine entry above — one of the original nine, but still Jharkhand's only Tiger Reserve, a good "which state has just one" trap answer.

Mizoram (1 reserve)

CARD — Dampa: declared 1994 (sanctuary established earlier, 1985), Mizoram's sole Tiger Reserve, bordering Bangladesh, notable for extremely dense bamboo forest cover that makes camera-trap tiger sightings unusually rare here compared to other reserves of similar size.

Hook: Mizoram's sole Tiger Reserve, bordering Bangladesh.

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