Amaravati, November 18, 2025: The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department is rolling out a ₹2.5 crore grassland development programme in the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) to enhance the prey base for its 70 tigers by planting nutritious species like Cenchrus ciliaris and Stylosanthes across 5,000 hectares.
The effort, starting this month, targets degraded areas prone to invasive weeds, using mechanical clearing and fire lines to create open meadows that attract deer and wild boar, key tiger food, while improving visibility for monitoring.
Officials said the reserve's fragmented grasslands, reduced by lantana and human activity, limit prey density; the project aims to reverse that within three years.
