Male Mahadeshwara Hills (MM Hills) Wildlife Sanctuary
Why it Matters?
The poisoning of a tigress and four cubs in Karnataka’s MM Hills Sanctuary has exposed deep flaws in wildlife protection, policy inconsistency, and environmental governance amid rising human-wildlife conflict.
What You Should Know?
MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Chamarajanagar district, southeastern Karnataka, near the Tamil Nadu border.
It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2013.
The sanctuary's vegetation includes dry deciduous forests, with patches of moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, evergreen, and shola forests.
It shares boundaries with Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka.
It is contiguous with the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
MM Hills form a critical tiger corridor between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The sanctuary supports populations of tigers, leopards, elephants, and a high density of prey species.
The proposal to upgrade MM Hills to a Tiger Reserve has been pending for nearly 15 years.
If approved, Chamarajanagar will become the first district in India to host three tiger reserves - Bandipur, BRT, and MM Hills.
Karnataka has the second-largest tiger population in India, with 563 tigers, after Madhya Pradesh (785).
The area is inhabited by the Soligas, an indigenous community of former hunter-gatherers.
Lingayats, traditionally temple priests from Mysore, also reside in the region and manage local temples.