- The Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala is the best-maintained of all tiger reserves in the country, according to the 5th cycle of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) carried out by the Centre and released alongside the Tiger Census.
- The Periyar Reserve tops the list with a Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) score of 94.38% among the 51 reserves evaluated.
- It was followed by Satpura and Bandipur at the second position (93.18%), while Nagarhole stood third (92.42%).
- This is followed by 20 in the ‘Very Good’ category, 14 in the ‘Good’ category and 5 in the ‘Fair’ category. None of the tiger reserves in the country has been classified as ‘poor’.
- Of these 53 tiger reserves, only 51 covering a total area of 73,765 sq km were assessed, not including the two newly declared tiger reserves, Ramgarh Vishdhari and Ranipur.
- MEE is the most significant approach to enhance the management perspectives of reserves and their associated landscape connectivity.
Periyar Tiger Reserve topped the ‘Excellent’ category of ” MEE
