Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is located at in

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Uttara Kannada District is a major coastal district of Karnataka, and currently holding the title of the largest district in Karnataka. It is bordered by the state of Goa and Bela ...

District of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The sanctuary covers an area of . around the city of

Dandeli Dandeli is a taluk in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India, in the Malenadu region. Description Old Dandeli As per the 1930 year, the population of Dandeli was only 515 and predominantly worked in the forestry department and governmen ...

. Along with neighboring

Anshi National Park Kali Tiger Reserve (Kannada: ಕಾಳಿ ಹುಲಿ ಸಂರಕ್ಷಿತ ಪ್ರದೇಶ; formerly Anshi National Park) is a protected area and tiger reserve. It is located in Uttara Kannada district, in Karnataka, India. The park i ...

(), the sanctuary was declared part of the

Anshi Dandeli Tiger Reserve Kali Tiger Reserve (Kannada: ಕಾಳಿ ಹುಲಿ ಸಂರಕ್ಷಿತ ಪ್ರದೇಶ; formerly Anshi National Park) is a protected area and tiger reserve. It is located in Uttara Kannada district, in Karnataka, India. The park ...

in 2006. Karnataka state government has officially notified the Dandeli Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant on 4 June 2015. The elephant reserve is spread over 2,321 km², including 475 km² as core and the remaining as buffer areas. This is the second elephant reserve in Karnataka after Mysuru Elephant Reserve, which was declared in 2002. Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is a birdwatchers paradise, housing nearly 200 species of birds, most famous for the

great hornbill The great hornbill (''Buceros bicornis''), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It ...

(great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill) and the

Malabar pied hornbill The Malabar pied hornbill (''Anthracoceros coronatus''), also known as lesser pied hornbill, is a bird in the Hornbill, hornbill family, a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World. Taxonomy The Malabar pied hornbill was des ...

. It is also the only known tiger reserve in India to report frequent sightings of the elusive

black panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

. It is also known to house the Indian

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as Vulnerable species, vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss ...

, the

Indian pangolin The Indian pangolin (''Manis crassicaudata''), also called thick-tailed pangolin and scaly anteater is a pangolin native to the Indian subcontinent. Like other pangolins, it has large, overlapping scales on its body which act as armour. The colo ...

, the giant Malabar squirrel,

dhole The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...

, the

Indian jackal The Indian jackal (''Canis aureus indicus''), also known as the Himalayan jackal is a subspecies of golden jackal native to Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Burma and Nepal. Its karyotype is quite different (2N=78; NF=84) from that of its Eurasian and Af ...

and the

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

(barking deer). Sightings of the

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild po ...

and the

Indian peafowl The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and ...

are pretty common. The king cobra and the

mugger crocodile The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad- snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marshes, ...

(Indian crocodile) are the prime reptilians in Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary. The forests in

are a mixture of dense deciduous trees interspersed with bamboo and teak plantations. The sanctuary is rich in flora and fauna. Crocodiles are major wildlife attraction in this sanctuary. It offers a unique experience of bird watching and crocodile spotting. You can walk through the forest or enjoy bird watching. There are a variety of reptilian and amphibian species in and around the wildlife sanctuary.

References

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North Western Ghats montane rain forests Wildlife sanctuaries of the Western Ghats Tiger reserves of India Wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka Tourist attractions in Uttara Kannada district 2006 establishments in Karnataka Protected areas established in 2006

See also

References