India’s single largest tiger reserve isn’t Ranthambore or Jim Corbett. It sits inside a lesser-known range called the Nallamala Hills.
MCQ Questions
The Nallamala Hills
3,728 km²
Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve — India’s largest
Set within the Nallamala Hills, an offshoot of the Eastern Ghats.
Range
Eastern Ghats
Spans Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
River
270 km of Krishna
The Krishna River cuts through the reserve.
Fauna
74 & 302
Mammal and bird species recorded here.
Forest
Dry Deciduous
Tropical dry deciduous, with bamboo and grass undergrowth.
✊ Must Know
The Hills and the Reserve They Hold
- The Nallamala Hills are part of the Eastern Ghats, mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- They host the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, known as NSTR.
- NSTR is India's single largest tiger reserve, covering about 3,728 square kilometres.
- The Krishna River flows through the reserve for around 270 kilometres.
📘 Good to Know
Terrain, Forest, and Wildlife
- The terrain includes plateaus, ridges, gorges, and deep valleys.
- The forest type is tropical dry deciduous, with an undergrowth of bamboo and grass.
- The reserve is home to around 74 mammal species and 302 bird species.
- Predators found here include the leopard, wolf, Asiatic wild dog, and Indian pangolin.
Test Yourself
🌟 Great to Know
Endemic Species and an Exam Contrast
- The region also holds several endemic plant species, found nowhere else on Earth.
- These include Andrographis nallamalayana, named directly after these hills.
- Despite being India's largest tiger reserve by area, NSTR remains far less publicly known than Ranthambore or Jim Corbett.
- This is a useful exam contrast: being the largest reserve doesn't automatically mean being the most famous.
📝 Previous Year Questions
A Common Pilgrimage-Geography Trap
- Correct Srisailam, a major Shiva pilgrimage site, sits in the Nallamala Hills, on the Andhra Pradesh–Telangana border. This pairing is accurate.
- Trap 1 Omkareshwar is often wrongly paired with the Satmala Hills. It actually sits on a Narmada river island, in the Vindhya range area — see IndReligion0038 — Jyotirlinga.
- Trap 2 Pushkar is often wrongly paired with the Mahadeo Hills. It actually sits in Rajasthan's Aravalli Range — see ArtnCulture0093 — Pushkar Mela.
- Answer: (a) 1 only.
- View this question on the full 2015 paper →
Leave a Reply