The Tamil Nadu government has notified the Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary on 68,640 hectares as the state’s 17th wildlife sanctuary.
Key points
- The sanctuary was notified under Section 26-A of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- The declaration of Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary to include 686.406 Sq.Km of Reserve Forests in Anchetty, Urigam and Jawalagiri ranges of the Hosur Forest Division that comprises forest stretches of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts.
- Grizzled giant squirrel, four-horned antelope, and Lesser Fish Eagle which are exclusively dependent on the Cauvery river and its riverine forest ecosystem, are found here.
- The declaration will give uniform legal status and protection to a contiguous network of protected areas that would stretch to over 50 km.
- The declared landscape lends continuity to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve through the Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, Billigiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve of Karnataka and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and Erode Forest Division of Tamil Nadu.
- Two important and large elephant corridors namely, the Nandimangalam-Ulibanda Corridor and the Kovaipallam-Anebiddahalla Corridor fall in this area.
