Madei Wildlife Sanctuary

The Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is a 208.5-km² (80.5-mi²) protected area in the Indian state of Goa in the Western Ghats of South India. It is located in the North Goa District, Sattari taluka near the town of Valpoi. The sanctuary is an area of high biodiversity, and is being considered to become a Project Tiger tiger reserve because of the presence of Bengal tigers.

Infrastructure

The sanctuary is administered by the Goa State Forest Department. The range forest officer of Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is Vishwas Chodankar. The RFO office is near the Forest Department office in Valpoi. The sanctuary is protected by 11 forest guards under the supervision of three round foresters. The sanctuary is divided into 16 beats with the three round foresters stationed in Kodal, Charavane and Caranzol in Sattari taluka. The sanctuary office has a four-wheel-drive vehicle and a motorcycle for patrolling.

There are no public tourist facilities in the sanctuary, but there are Forest Department rest houses at Valpoi and Keri. There is an Irrigation Department rest house above the Anjunem Dam. The Anjunem Dam is located on the Sanquelim - Belgaum highway SH-31 in Chorla ghat at about from Sanquelim town.

There are three private ecoresorts in Chorla ghat, the Wildernest Nature Conservation Facility, the Eco Adventure Resort, and the Swapnagandha Resort.

Geography

Goa is the only state in India which has protected the complete Western Ghats' section within a state. Goa's four wildlife sanctuaries are located on the eastern side of the state in the Western Ghats, covering an area of about . The Mahdei Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park all fall within the Mhadei River basin. The Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is located between 15° 48" 33' to 14° 53" 54' N and 74° 20" 13' to 73° 40" 33' E.

Elevations among the hills of the sanctuary range from in the center to in the west. The sanctuary includes the Vagheri Hills, some of the highest peaks in North Goa. Vagheri peak at elevation, the highest in the sanctuary, is near the village of Keri in Sanquelim. Other peaks in Goa include Sonsogor, the highest in Goa at , Catlanchimauli , Vaguerim and Morlemchogar.

A unique discovery of the Vagheri hills is the presence of a flowing lake or waterbody shaped in the exact map of India, midway to climbing the hill while looking down at the valley.

The Mhadei River, known downstream as the Mandovi River, the lifeline of the state of Goa, originates in Karnataka, travels in Karnataka, passes through the Mahdei Wildlife Sanctuary and meets the Arabian Sea at Panaji after traveling in Goa. See map showin
rivers
in Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary.

Waterfalls

Mhadei Sanctuary is noted for its many waterfalls, especially the twin Vazra Sakla waterfalls and the Virdi Falls in the Chorla Ghats region on the escarpment of the Goa-Maharashtra-Karnataka border in the Swapnagandha valley forest near Virdi village. The 16 waterfalls at up from Hivre village are from the Valpoi.

The Ladkyacho Vozar plunge waterfall, northeast of Surla, Goa's highest village is at Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is located just to the south of Mhadei in Goa.

Fauna

This region is part of the Western Ghats landscape, and is regarded as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot.

Other mammals seen in the sanctuary include the tiger, Indian black panther (rare), sloth bear (rare, occasional sightings near caves and grasslands), gaur (commonly sighted near the grasslands, in forest clearings, and near water), barking deer (commonly sighted near forest clearings and waterholes), sambar deer (occasionally sighted on grasslands and main roads), leopard (extremely rare), ruddy mongoose (frequently sighted at daybreak and dusk on forest paths), Asian palm civet (commonly sighted on main roads and near village settlements), small Indian civet (commonly sighted on main roads, dhole (rarely sighted transient mammal in the forests), jungle cat (extremely rare, sighted by researchers and locals on a few occasions), mouse deer (rare, occasional sightings on trails), wild boar (frequently sighted at dawn and dusk), Indian hare (commonly sighted on the plateaux), giant squirrel (documented in the forests), flying squirrel (a nocturnal mammal, documented in dense evergreen forests), black-faced langur (commonly found in small groups in the tree canopy), Indian pangolin (rarely found in secondary forests), slender loris (rare and endangered), bonnet macaque (commonly found in troupes).

Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is an International Bird Area (IN177) which satisfies IBA criterion: A1. Globally threatened species, A2. Restricted-range species and A3. Biome-restricted species. IBA trigger species here are: Nilgiri wood-pigeon, Malabar parakeet, Malabar grey hornbill, grey-headed bulbul, rufous babbler, white-bellied blue-flycatcher and crimson-backed sunbird. A total of 255 bird species have been recorded in the Sanctuary. Of these, 53 showed direct signs of breeding here.

Snakes found in the Mhadei Valley, including the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, include all of the "Big Four" venomous snakes in India: Indian krait, Russell’s viper, saw-scaled viper, spectacled cobra, plus: banded kukri snake