Kanyakumari Wildlife 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 ...

Kanyakumari district Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nad ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

declared in February 2008. The area is a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

habitat. Seven rivers originate in the forest including the

Thamirabarani River The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats, above Papanasam in the Ambasamudram taluk. It flows through Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi distr ...

and

Pahrali River Pahrali River (also called Parazhiyar) flows through the Kanyakumari District in southern India. It originates in the Mahendragiri hills. The Mathur Hanging Trough, the highest and longest aqueduct in Asia, was built over it near the hamlet ...

Wildlife

The region is one of the most diverse wildlife forest location in India. Several new species of plants, amphibians and insects discovered here are found nowhere else, making it an endemic region. The area is a wildlife corridor with high

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, and in addition to tigers, is home to the

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

Indian bison The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to Indian Subcontinent , South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global populatio ...

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

, Indian rock python,

lion-tailed macaque The lion-tailed macaque (''Macaca silenus''), also known as the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India. Characteristics Lion-tailed macaques are covered in black fur, and have a striking gray or silver ...

mouse deer Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, the only extant members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only f ...

Nilgiri tahr The Nilgiri tahr (''Nilgiritragus hylocrius'') is an ungulate that is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western and Eastern Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. It is the state animal of Tami ...

and

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

Habitation

There are a few tribal villages in the sanctuary and adjoining

reserve forest A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

Threats

The Arasu Rubber Corporation had destroyed 12,000 acres of forest land to promote rubber estates. This triggered wide protests among the locals and environmentalists. The State government got a stay order and has continued turning forests into rubber plantations by leasing the land to third party contractors and landlords. Another incident was the uprooting of 20,000 forest trees in the guise of clearing the damage caused due to

Cyclone Ockhi Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Ockhi was a strong tropical cyclone that devastated parts of Sri Lanka and India in 2017, and was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea since Cyclone Megh in 2015. The ninth depression, and the third a ...

. This caused anthropogenic disturbance."Only select uprooted trees will be removed from Kanniyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary: Forest Department - Indian Express"
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Notes

External links

{{coord, 8.39, 77.37, display=title Wildlife sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu 2008 establishments in Tamil Nadu Protected areas established in 2008