3,289 forest offence cases registered in Chamarajanagar forest circle since 2010-11
According to the data, the highest number of cases, 2,256, was registered in the M.M. Hills Wildlife Division, followed by 793 cases in the BRT Tiger Reserve and 240 cases in the Cauvery Wildlife Division
Between 2010-11 and August 19, 2026, a total of 3,289 forest offence cases were registered in Chamarajanagar forest circle. This circle encompasses the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve and two wildlife divisions - Cauvery and Male Mahadeshwara Hills. On August 15, three suspected poachers were killed in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary during an alleged exchange of fire with Forest Department personnel.
Of the registered cases, 777 were Wildlife Offence Report (WLOR) cases, 370 were poaching cases, and 66 were gun-related cases. The M.M. Hills Wildlife Division recorded the highest number of cases, with 2,256, followed by BRT Tiger Reserve with 793 and Cauvery Wildlife Division with 240 cases.
M.M. Hills division had 296 WLOR cases, 166 poaching cases, and 32 gun-related cases. Similarly, BRT Tiger Reserve had 280 WLOR cases, 107 poaching cases, and 17 gun-related cases. Cauvery Wildlife Division had 201 WLOR cases, 97 poaching cases, and 17 gun-related cases.
At the range level, the Kollegal Buffer Zone registered the most cases (979), followed by Hanur Buffer Zone (657) and Chamaraja Territorial Range (352). The highest number of poaching cases were reported in Cowdahalli Wildlife Range (47), Hanur Buffer Range (45), and Chamaraja Territorial Range (39).
The majority of forest areas in the circle are wildlife habitats, predominantly composed of dry deciduous forests with scrub forests along the fringes. Higher reaches of BRT Tiger Reserve and M.M. Hills have moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, evergreen, and shola forests.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
