Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat”?

Answer: (c) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam

India’s largest tiger reserve — the Nallamala hills of Andhra Pradesh — so it also has the largest notified core (Critical Tiger Habitat).

The idea

Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) = the notified core of a tiger reserve, kept inviolate for tigers. The rest is the buffer, where people and wildlife coexist.

Bigger, unbroken forest → bigger core → largest CTH

Why the others are wrong

(a) Corbett is the OLDEST tiger reserve (1973), not the largest. Its core is well under 1,000 km².

(b) Ranthambore is famous for tiger sightings, but its core is small and fragmented.

(d) The Sundarbans is large, but much of it is water and creeks; its notified core is smaller.

The trap

Don’t pick the most famous reserve. “Famous for tigers” (Corbett, Ranthambore) is not the same as “largest area”.

Also know

CTH was added to the Wildlife (Protection) Act by the 2006 amendment (Section 38V), which also created the NTCA. India now has 58 tiger reserves.