Nagarahole National Park is an important tiger reserve in ____ and is a major…

Concept

India's tiger reserves are notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and coordinated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under Project Tiger; each reserve is administratively located within one specific state, so identifying its state means matching the protected area to the state that notifies and administers it.

Application

Nagarahole National Park (also called Rajiv Gandhi National Park) lies in Karnataka, forming part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve cluster along with Bandipur, Mudumalai, and Wayanad. It is notified as a Tiger Reserve under NTCA/Project Tiger and also falls within the Mysore Elephant Reserve, which is why it is highlighted for both Project Tiger and Project Elephant conservation.

Cross-check

• Kerala's protected area within this same Nilgiri cluster is Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, not Nagarahole; Periyar Tiger Reserve lies further south in Kerala's Cardamom Hills, outside this cluster.

• Telangana's tiger reserves, Kawal and Amrabad, lie in the Deccan plateau region, geographically separate from the Nilgiri cluster.

• Odisha's tiger reserve, Similipal, lies in the Mayurbhanj forest belt of eastern India, unrelated to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Since Nagarahole is administered as a Karnataka Tiger Reserve within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the correct answer is Karnataka.