RELEVANCE – UPSC GS PRELIMS
QUESTION ASKED IN UPSC EXAM ON- Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary
QUES – From the ecological point of view, which one of the following assumes importance in being a good link between the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats?
(a) Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve
(b) Nallamala Forest
(c) Nagarhole National Park
(d) Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve
Answer – (a)
Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve is a protected area and tiger reserve along the Western Ghats in Erode District of Tamil Nadu. First declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 2008 , it covers a forest area of 1,411.6 km2 and is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu.
In 2013, it became the fourth tiger reserve as a part of Project Tiger in the state of Tamil Nadu ,with the other three being Mudumalai, Anamalai and Kalakkad-Mundanthurai. The area is contiguous with the forests of Bandipur and Mudumalai tiger reserves.
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
The Sathyamangalam forest 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
The Sathyamangalam forests link the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats allowing gene flow between diverse fauna populations of the two eco-regions. Important fauna include- Bengal tigers, 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.