Chandoli National Park | |
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Sahyadri Tiger Reserve | |
![]() Oriental garden lizard at Chandoli National Park | |
Location | Sangli District Maharashtra, India |
Nearest city | Sangli, kolhapur |
Coordinates | 17°11′30″N73°46′30″E / 17.19167°N 73.77500°E |
Area | 317.67 square kilometres (122.65 sq mi) |
Established | May 2004 |
Governing body | Maharashtra State Forest Dept. |
Website | http://chandolinationalpark.com/ (unofficial) |
Official name | Natural Properties - Western Ghats (India) |
Type | Natural |
Criteria | ix, x |
Designated | 2012 (36th session) |
Reference no. | 1342 |
Region | Indian subcontinent |
Chandoli National Park [1] is a national park established in Sangli district in May 2004. [2] Earlier it was a Wildlife Sanctuary declared in 1985. Chandoli Park is notable as the southern portion of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, with Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary forming the northern part of the reserve
The 741.22 km2 (286.19 sq mi) Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, including all of Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary was declared by The National Tiger Conservation Authority as a Project Tiger tiger reserve on May 21, 2007. The Sahyadri Tiger Reserve was then estimated to have nine tigers and 66 leopards. [3]
Chandoli National Park is located near the Chandoli Dam between longitudes 73°40' and 73°53' E and latitudes 17°03' and 17°20'N in Sangli District of Western Maharashtra. It lies between the Radhanagiri and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuaries and forms the southern part of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve. [2] it is near about 101 km from sangli
The park includes historical places of note including 17th century forts of the Maratha Empire, Prachitgad and Bhairavgad. Most of the protected area was used an open jail for the "prisoners of war" of the early battles during Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's rule.[ citation needed ] Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj used Prachitgad as an observation point and recreational place. [4]
The park spreads along the crest of the Sahyadri Range of the northern Western Ghats. It forms and protects many perennial water channels, water holes and the Vasant Sagar Reservoir. Elevation of the park ranges from 589–1,044 m (1,932–3,425 ft). [5] The park receives its water supply from the Warna river and reservoir as well as several other small streams and rivers. Flat topped mountains, rocky, lateritic plateaus called 'Saddas', almost devoid of vegetation, large boulders and caves are distinctive to the protected areas in the Sahyadri region of the Western Ghats.[ citation needed ]
The forest types seen here are a mix of Malabar Coast moist forests and North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests. In the dwarf evergreen forests, some tree species commonly seen here are the anjani ironwood tree, jamun, pisa (angustifolia), fig, Olea (diocia), katak spinous kino tree, nana or Crape myrtle (lanceolata), kinjal, kokum tree and phanasi false kelat (brachiata). Other trees dominating the landscape include asan wood or ain or Indian laurel, amla or Indian gooseberry, umbar or devil fig (hispida) and harra or chebulic myrobalan.
Grasses commonly seen here include bangala or bluestem grass sp., dongari or golden beard grass (fulvus), black spear grass, kalikusli or tangle grass, anjan grass or buffel grass, grader grass or karad or kangaroo grass (quadrivalvis) and grasses belonging to family Poaceae, like saphet-kusli or Aristida funiculata]. [6] Insectivorous plant species like sundews and bladderworts sp. are also found in this protected area.[ citation needed ]
Nearly 23 species of mammals, 122 species of birds, 20 species of amphibians and reptiles are known to be resident in the forests of Chandoli. The tiger, [7] leopard, Indian bison, leopard cat, sloth bear and giant squirrel are quite conspicuous here.[ citation needed ]
Many prey species of ungulates such as the barking deer, sambar deer, mouse deer and blackbuck are present. A census carried out in 2002 by the Forest Department showed a rise in the number of tigers, leopards, gaur, barking deer, mouse deer, sloth bears and blackbuck. A similar census carried out in 2004 showed a rise in gaur population in the Kolhapur Wildlife Division from 88 to 243. [8]
On 23 and 24 May 2018, a tiger was photographed in a camera trap in Chandoli. This was the first direct evidence of tigers in the reserve in eight years. Prior to that, in 2014, scat DNA and model-based predictions were used to estimate that the reserve had five to eight tigers. [7]
Work undertaken for habitat improvement and development in the Chandoli National Park include removal of invasive species, soil conservation and water conservation, vaccination of cattle, research, fire prevention, providing salt licks, demarcation of boundary, erection of watch towers, maintenance of nature trails, desalting water holes, development of grasslands, and procurement of wireless two-way radios. [9]
The Maharashtra government has plans to set up the Karadi-Bhogiv hydro-electric project in the catchment area of the Warna Dam that is expected to use up 6.78 km2 (2.62 sq mi) of forest land. On a positive note, nearly 7,894 people and a significant cattle population resident on 84.29 km2 (32.54 sq mi) of land in 32 villages within the park. These villages have been successfully relocated to areas outside the park. This measure has helped to preserve and regenerate some of the vegetation in this protected area. [8]
The Krishna River in the Deccan plateau is the third-longest river in India, after the Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganges, Indus and Godavari. The river, also called Krishnaveni, is 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) long and its length in Maharashtra is 282 kilometres. It is a major source of irrigation in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and these two east–west ranges divide Indian Subcontinent into the Indo-Gangetic plain of northern India and the Deccan Plateau of the south. The Narmada River originates from north-eastern end of Satpura in Amarkantak, and runs in the depression between the Satpura and Vindhya ranges, draining the northern slope of the Satpura range, running west towards the Arabian Sea. The Tapti River originates in the eastern-central part of Satpura, crossing the range in the center and running west at the range's southern slopes before meeting the Arabian Sea at Surat, draining the central and southern slopes of the range. Multai, the place of Tapti river origin is located about 465 kilometer far, south-westerly to Amarkantak, separated across by the hill range. The Godavari River and its tributaries drain the Deccan plateau, which lies south of the range, and the Mahanadi River drains the easternmost portion of the range. The Godavari and Mahanadi rivers flow into the Bay of Bengal. At its eastern end, the Satpura range meets the hills of the Chotanagpur Plateau. The Satpura Range is a horst mountain and is flanked by Narmada Graben in the north and much smaller but parallel Tapi Graben in the south.
The North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern India.
The North Western Ghats montane rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern Indian peninsula. It covers an area of 30,900 square kilometers (11,900 sq mi), extending down the spine of the Western Ghauts range, from southernmost Gujarat through Damaon, Maharashtra, Goa & Karnataka. The montane rain forests are found above 1000 meters elevation, and are surrounded at lower elevations by the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests.
Anaimalai Tiger Reserve, earlier known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park and as Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected area in the Anaimalai Hills of Pollachi and Valparai taluks of Coimbatore District and Udumalaipettai taluk in Tiruppur District, Tamil Nadu, India. The Tamil Nadu Environment and Forests Department by a notification dated 27 June 2007, declared an extent of 958.59 km2 that encompassed the erstwhile IGWLS&NP or Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary, as Anaimalai Tiger Reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Reserve presently includes a core area of 958.59 km2 and buffer/peripheral area of 521.28 km2 forming a total area of 1479.87 km2.
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