Satyamangalam Tiger Reserve

Satyamangalam Tiger Reserve

Subject : Environment

Section: Places in news

• Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is located in the strategic confluence region of Western and Eastern Ghats. An area of 1,40,924 ha is declared as Tiger Reserve on 15.03.2013 from erstwhile Wild Life Sanctuary with an area of 1,41,161 ha. It comprises of 2 divisions; Sathyamangalam and Hasanur with District headquarters at Erode.
• This area holds a significant population of tiger, and it is also contiguous to other Tiger conservation landscapes like BRT, Bandipur, Mudumalai and Nagarahole.
• The region is also a part of Nilgiri-Eastern Ghats Elephant Reserve and is an abode to about 800 to 1000 Elephants as per Synchronised Elephant Census conducted during 2012.
• The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is the confluence of two distinct geographical regions of bio diversity landscape; Western Ghat and Eastern Ghat. The diversity of habitat has got an assemblage of several species of rare plants, animals, birds, invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, and reptiles.
• The wildlife sanctuary is part of Project Tiger and Project Elephant conservation programmes.These forests are home to indigenous tribal people belonging largely to the Irula tribe (also known as the Urali) and Soliga communities
• Flora: It is mostly tropical dry forest, part of the South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests ecoregion. There are five distinct forest types: tropical evergreen (Shola), semi-evergreen, mixed-deciduous, dry deciduous and thorn forests.
• Fauna: It links the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats allowing gene flow between diverse fauna populations of the two eco-regions. Important fauna include- Bengal tigers, Black Buck, Indian elephants, gaurs,  leopards ,spotted deer, blackbucks,  sambar deer,  barking deer ,four-horned antelopes, wild boars,  sloth bears , striped hyenas and feral buffaloes .
• Birds: Many bird species including treepies, bulbuls, babblers, mynahs , crows and critically endangered Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) are noted.