Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary is an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

situated near

Kakinada Kakinada ( formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the sixth largest city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the district headquarters of the Kakinada District. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. J. ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is the third largest stretch of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

forests A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

in India with 24 mangrove tree species and more than 120 bird species. It is home to the critically endangered

white-backed vulture The white-backed vulture (''Gyps africanus'') is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the most common vulture species in the continent of Africa. Description Preening at ...

and the long billed vulture. Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that live in the coastal intertidal zone, with a dense tangle of prop roots that make the trees appear to be standing on stilts above the water. This tangle of roots allows the trees to handle the daily rise and fall of tides; hence, the mangrove forest gets flooded at least twice per day. The roots also slow the movement of tidal waters, causing sediments to settle out of the water and build up the muddy bottom. It also stabilizes the coastline, reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides. The intricate root system of the mangrove also makes the forest attractive to fish and other organisms seeking food and shelter from predators.

Geography

Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary is 8 km from the port city of

, on the Kakinada-Yanam National Highway 216 in Chollangi Village, nestling on the deltaic branches of Gouthami and

Godavari The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...

Rivers at Kakinada Bay. It is located between 16°-30' to 17°-00' N latitudes and 82°-14' to 82°-23'E longitudes. The sanctuary is a part of the

and has extensive mangrove and dry deciduous tropical forest. About half of the area is the

backwater Backwater or Backwaters may refer to: Music * ''Backwaters'' (album), a 1982 album by American guitarist Tony Rice * Backwater (band), a jazz fusion band from Mobile, Alabama, or this band's 1976 debut album * "Backwater", a song by Brian Eno fr ...

, which includes a sand pit of 18 km length. The rivers Coringa and Gaderu and their deltaic branches intersect the region, along with other water channels. This forms about 335.7 square km of marsh vegetation. The average temperature of the region is 17 °C to 40 °C. Average Rainfall is greater than 1,000 mm.

Flora

The Sanctuary in the

River Godavari The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwa ...

has rich mangrove vegetation. There are thirty five

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of plants belonging to twenty four families. The plant species that are commonly found are: * '' Avicennia officinalis'' * ''

Avicennia marina ''Avicennia marina'', commonly known as grey mangrove or white mangrove, is a species of mangrove tree classified in the plant family Acanthaceae (formerly in the Verbenaceae or Avicenniaceae). As with other mangroves, it occurs in the inte ...

'' * '' Avicennia alba'' * '' Excoecaria agallocha'' * ''

Rhizophora mucronata ''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium s ...

'' * '' Ceriops decandra'' * '' Bruguiera gymnorhiza'' * '' Lumnitzera recemosa'' * ''

Sonneratia apetala ''Sonneratia'' is a genus of plants in the family Lythraceae. Formerly the Sonneratia were placed in a family called Sonneratiaceae which included both the ''Sonneratia'' and the ''Duabanga'', but these two are now placed in their own monot ...

'' * '' Rhizophora conjugata'' * ''

Aegiceras corniculatum ''Aegiceras corniculatum'', commonly known as black mangrove, river mangrove, goat's horn mangrove, or khalsi, is a species of shrub or tree mangrove in the primrose family, Primulaceae, with a distribution in coastal and estuarine areas rangi ...

'' * '' Thespesia populneoides'' * ''

Hibiscus tiliaceus ''Hibiscus tiliaceus'', commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New ...

''. Apart from the tree

, some of the

shrubs A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

found in the sanctuary are: * ''

Dalbergia spinosa ''Dalbergia spinosa'' is a species of thorny liana (or self-supporting tree to 15 m), with the Vietnamese name ''trắc gai''. The genus ''Dalbergia'' is placed in the subfamily Faboideae and tribe Dalbergieae; no subspecies are listed in the Ca ...

'' * ''

Derris trifoliata ''Derris trifoliata'' is a plant species in the genus ''Derris'', Family - Leguminosae It is known as "Karanjvel" in Marathi - local language of Maharashtra, India. It is a large climber found commonly in coastal swamps of Konkan (India). It is ...

''. Herbs like: * ''

Sesuvium portulacastrum ''Sesuvium portulacastrum'' is a sprawling perennial herb that grows in coastal areas throughout much of the world. It is commonly known as shoreline purslane or (ambiguously) "sea purslane," in English, ''dampalit'' in Tagalog and 海马齿sl in ...

'' * ''

Suaeda maritima ''Suaeda maritima'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names herbaceous seepweed and annual seablite. Description It is a yellow-green shrub with fleshy, succulent leaves and green flowers. It grows ...

'' * ''

Suaeda monoica ''Suaeda monoica'' is a species of flowering plant in the sea-blite genus ''Suaeda'', largely native to the shores of the Indian Ocean from South Africa to Sri Lanka, and salty areas inland. It has been introduced in Argentina. It exhibits phenot ...

'' * '' Salicornia brachiatta'' and grasses like: * '' Aeluropus lagopoides'' * '' Porteresia coarctate'' * '' Myriostachya wightiana'' are found in the sanctuary.

Fauna

The sanctuary possesses a wide variety of birds, because of the feed available in the backwaters of the mangrove forest. During low tide, some of the areas are exposed (elevated mud flats) having small fishes, shrimps and mollusks. These attract avifauna for feeding. Some critically endangered species like the

and the long billed vulture are present in the sanctuary. The painted stork,

Oriental white ibis The black-headed ibis (''Threskiornis melanocephalus''), also known as the Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis, is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the South and Southeas ...

ferruginous pochard The ferruginous duck (''Aythya nyroca''), also known as ferruginous pochard, common white-eye or white-eyed pochard, is a medium-sized diving duck from Eurosiberia. The scientific name is derived from Greek '' aithuia'' an unidentified seabird ...

found in the sanctuary are

near threatened species A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

, and

spot-billed pelican The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...

is a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulnera ...

. Significant populations of

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s and mangrove birds are also present. Altogether, more than 120 species of birds have been reported and among them some of the commonly found birds in the sanctuary are: * little egret *

cattle egret The cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') is a cosmopolitan species of heron ( family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Bubulcus'', although some authorities regard ...

* pied kingfisher * small blue kingfisher * black-capped kingfisher *

pond heron Pond herons (''Ardeola'') are herons, typically long with an wingspan. Most breed in the tropical Old World, but the migratory squacco heron occurs in southern Europe and the Middle East and winters in Africa. The scientific name comes fr ...

* reef heron *

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more north ...

* night heron * little stint *

sandpiper Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil ...

* redshank * red-wattled lapwing * crow pheasant * flamingos * sea gulls * purple heron * brahmini kite * openbill stork *

little cormorant The little cormorant (''Microcarbo niger'') is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Slightly smaller than the Indian cormorant it lacks a peaked head and has a shorter beak. It is widely distributed across the Indian Subcontinent and ex ...

. Apart from the avian fauna, the sanctuary has a fair population of

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy ...

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

and

fishing cat The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have declin ...

, and a healthy breeding population of

smooth-coated otter The smooth-coated otter (''Lutrogale perspicillata'') is an otter species occurring in most of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with a disjunct population in Iraq. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and is threa ...

. The sanctuary has an 18-km long sand pit where

olive ridley sea turtle The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in ...

s nest from January to March every year. Efforts to reintroduce the

saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been l ...

into the sanctuary during the 1970s met with failure and the species has not been present within the sanctuary for over 30 years.

Threats and conservation issues

As it is easy to access and in close vicinity to the port town of Kakinada and nearby villages, which are largely inhabited, the mangroves are being exploited by the local population. A socio-economic study by the Indian Bird Conservation Network found that most of the local fishermen harvest wood in the forest and depend heavily on the mangroves for their basic needs. The species Avicennia officinalis and

are being used for fuelwood. The existence of

otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weas ...

has been hit badly because of increased

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

and

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. The increasing industrialization of the Godavari Delta, increasing

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

activities and fishing pressure have severely affected the population of

. The

Andhra Pradesh Forest Department Andhra Pradesh Forest Department is one of the administrative divisions of Government of Andhra Pradesh. It is headed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Head of Forest Force. The primary function of this department is protection, con ...

has taken steps to ensure conservation of otters and for

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees ( forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests ...

of mangroves in the sanctuary.

References

{{Wildlife sanctuaries of Andhra Pradesh Wildlife sanctuaries in Andhra Pradesh Kakinada 1978 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Protected areas established in 1978