Wildlife of
Madhya Pradesh

Primary Threats

• Forest-agriculture edge expansion and degradation in the state's dry deciduous belt reduce prey base and cover for carnivores; small forest patches outside reserves are being converted or heavily used, weakening connectivity between tiger reserves (e.g., Pench-Kanha, Kanha-Achanakmar, Satpura-Melghat linkages).
• Highways, rail lines, canals, and power transmission corridors dissect forests and corridors; vehicle strikes and barrier effects are recurring around tourism and transit routes near reserves (e.g., approaches to Bandhavgarh/Kanha/Pench) and in corridor tracts where mitigation structures are limited or incomplete.
• Coal and mineral extraction footprints (notably in the Singrauli region and other mineral belts) drive deforestation, pollution, and heavy truck traffic; associated settlements and ash/overburden dumps create long-term habitat loss and human pressure on surrounding forests.
• Although large-scale illegal timber extraction is less visible inside core protected areas, illicit felling and fuelwood pressure persist in some territorial divisions and buffer zones, especially where dependence on wood energy remains high; this simplifies forest structure and reduces denning/roosting sites.
• Conversion of scrub/grassland and forest margins to crops reduces habitat for grassland specialists (e.g., lesser florican) and increases interface conflict (crop raiding by herbivores; retaliatory risk to carnivores).
• Leopard, sloth bear, and occasionally tiger incidents occur in fringe villages and sugarcane/irrigated pockets that provide cover; livestock depredation in buffer/corridor areas fuels retaliatory poisoning/trapping risks and complicates tolerance for dispersing tigers.
• High tourism density in flagship reserves (especially peak seasons in Bandhavgarh/Kanha/Pench) increases noise, off-road pressure, and traffic on safari routes; pilgrimage and local collection activities also raise disturbance in some forested landscapes.
• Pangolin poaching for scales and occasional trade in skins/claws (and live birds) persists in parts of central India; MP's road connectivity and proximity to multiple state borders can facilitate movement of contraband if enforcement is uneven.
• Local subsistence hunting and opportunistic snaring (often targeting ungulates) occurs in some peripheral and non-protected forests; this can depress prey populations and indirectly affect large carnivores.
• Industrial and urban effluents in river stretches (and runoff from agriculture) degrade aquatic habitats; in heavily industrial zones (e.g., around thermal power clusters), air/ash deposition and contaminated water bodies can affect downstream biodiversity and human health.
• Intensive fishing pressure and gill-net use in rivers/reservoirs can deplete fish prey and cause bycatch/entanglement risks for gharial and river turtles, especially in multi-use stretches of the Chambal and reservoir systems.
• Dams, barrages, sand extraction, and altered flow regimes change river morphology and nesting banks for gharial and turtles; in forests, changed fire regimes (more frequent, hotter fires) simplify understory and hinder regeneration in dry deciduous systems.
• Lantana camara and other invasives proliferate in many MP forests, forming dense thickets that suppress native understory, impede grass recovery for ungulates, and complicate habitat management and fire control.
• Rising heat extremes and more erratic monsoon patterns increase drought stress and fire intensity, reduce water availability in smaller streams/seasonal pools, and can shift prey distribution-raising conflict and concentrating wildlife around few water sources.
• High grazing pressure and heavy collection of fuelwood/NTFPs in some buffer and territorial forests reduce regeneration, compact soils, and lower forage availability for wild herbivores, indirectly affecting carnivore carrying capacity.
• Disease spillover risks (e.g., canine distemper in wild canids, and livestock-borne diseases such as FMD) rise where feral/free-ranging dogs and livestock overlap with wildlife in village fringes and corridors.
• Expansion of major cities (e.g., Bhopal-Indore-Jabalpur growth corridors) and peri-urban development increases demand for land, water, and stone/aggregate, pushing extraction and fragmentation into nearby forest divisions and wetlands.