Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

state, India. It lies in the Satmala and Ajantha hill ranges of the Western Ghats, and administratively is in Aurangabad District and

Jalgaon District Jalgaon (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʒəɭɡaːʋ is a district in the northern part of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters is the city of Jalgaon. It is bordered by the state of Madhya Pradesh to the north and by the districts of Buldhana to ...

. The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1986 in an existing reserved forest area. It covers a total area of with Reserved Forest Areas of 19706 ha. in Aurangabad and 6355.19 ha. in Jalgaon. Its name comes the nearby village of Gautala, which was itself named after Gautam Rishi, a Hindu ascetic mentioned in the

Ramcharitmanas ''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, श्रीरामचरितमानस, Rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, based on the ''Ramayana'', and composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). This ...

Ecology

The area is southern tropical dry deciduous forest with interspersed bush and grasslands.This topography supports wide variety of flora and fauna

Fauna

The wildlife include wide variety of animals. They are chinkara (''Gazella bennettii''), nilgai (antelope) (''Boselaphus tragocamelus''), sloth bears (''Melursus ursinus''), jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis''), brown palm civet (''Paradoxurus jerdoni''), muntjac (barking deer) (''Muntiacus muntjak''), hare (''Lepus nigricollis''),

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, jackal,

bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

, gray langur (''Semnopithecus entellus''), wolf (''Canis lupus pallipes'') and dhole (wild dog) (''Cuon alpinus''). 240 bird species have been observed in and around the sanctuary, among them are cranes,

spoonbills Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

, storks,

ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

pochards Pochard is a common name used for several species of diving ducks: *Four species in the genus ''Aythya'': ** Common pochard, ''Aythya ferina'' ** Baer's pochard, ''Aythya baeri'' ** Ferruginous pochard, ''Aythya nyroca'' ** Madagascar pochard, ''A ...

, peafowl, quail,

partridges A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perdic ...

, and various species of wading birds. Snakes include the cobra ('' Naja naja''), common krait (''

Bungarus caeruleus The common krait (''Bungarus caeruleus''), also known as Bengal krait, is a species of highly venomous elapid snake of the genus ''Bungarus'' native to the Indian subcontinent. It is a member of the "Big Four" species that inflict the most snake ...

''), and rat snake (''

Ptyas mucosus ''Ptyas mucosa'', commonly known as the oriental ratsnake, Indian rat snake, ''darash'' or ''dhaman'', is a common non-venomous species of colubrid snake found in parts of South and Southeast Asia. Dhamans are large snakes. Typical mature total l ...

'').

Flora

The hill tops in the sanctuary are grass lands where as most of the forest trees occur on the slopes.Trees include teak ('' Tectona grandis''), anjan (''Hardwickia binata''), oil cake tree (''

Albizia amara ''Albizia'' is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and ...

''), sandalwood ('' Santalum album''), bel ('' Aegle marmelos''), awla ('' Phyllanthus emblica''), bhallatak ('' Semecarpus anacardium''), and moha (''

Madhuca longifolia ''Madhuca longifolia'' is an Indian tropical tree found largely in the central, southern, north Indian plains and forests, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is commonly known as madhūka, , mahuwa, Butter Tree, mahua, mahwa, , Iluppai or vippa che ...

'').

How to reach

The sanctuary is well connected by road. It is about 75 km from Aurangabad and 40 km from Chalisgaon city. The nearest rail head is Chalisgaon and airport is at Aurangabad also nearby towns Kannad City from where 2 to 3 Bus are available from Kannad in a day.

Features

* Pitalkhora caves, rock-cut, Buddhist caves, from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE * Patnadevi Temple *

Mahadeva Temple Shiva is a Hindu deity worshipped by Shaivism, Shaivaites in India as the destroyer of ignorance spread all across the universe. As one of the three main gods in the Hindu pantheon, there are temples dedicated to his worship in India (and abroad ...

* Sita Khori a waterfall Hanuman (Maruti) mandir road side...

Notes

{{Clear Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests Wildlife sanctuaries in Maharashtra Jalgaon district 1986 establishments in Maharashtra Protected areas established in 1986 Tourist attractions in Maharashtra