Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary( mar, फणसाड वन्यजीव अभयारण्य ) is a

wildlife sanctuary 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 ...

in the Murud and

Roha Roha () is a town and taluka in the Raigad district of the Maharashtra state of India. It is located 120 km southeast of Mumbai. It is the starting point of Konkan railways and end point of central railways (Mumbai). Many chemical indu ...

talukas of

Raigad district Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad after the fort that was the first capital of the former Marath ...

Maharashtra state Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdivi ...

, India. It was created in 1986 to preserve some of the coastal woodland ecosystem of the Western Ghats and consists of of forest, grasslands and wetlands. The area was once part of the hunting reserves of the princely state of

Murud-Janjira Murud-Janjira () is the local name of a famous fort and tourist spot situated on an island just off the coastal town/city of Murud, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. Origins of the name The word Janjira is a corruption of the ara ...

Geography

The Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary is located some from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. It is situated between Roha, Murud-Janjira and Alibaug talukas of Raigarh district. There are four main trails through the sanctuary that takes in the main waterholes, Ghunyacha Maal, Chikhalgaan and Phansadgaan, that are some of the best places to see wildlife. The "Sacred Grove" (Devrai) is located near Supegaon. Pockets of open grassland, called ''maals'', occur throughout the sanctuary. The places of natural water sources in the sanctuary are called "Gaan". The sanctuary is best approachable by road from Murud-Janjira and Roha. The nearest rail head is Roha.

History

Before independence this sanctuary was private hunting

Game reserve A game reserve (also known as a wildlife preserve or a game park) is a large area of land where wild animals live safely or are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; ...

of Siddhi Nawab of

Janjira State Janjira State was a princely state in India during the British Raj. Its rulers were a Siddi dynasty of Habesha descent and the state was under the suzerainty of the Bombay Presidency. Janjira State was located on the Konkan coast in the p ...

in Murud-Janjira. The entire area was notified as deemed reserved forest under section 4 of Indian forest Act, 1927 . The major part of the present day sanctuary was a part of Phansad working Circle.The sanctuary was declared on 25-2-1986 vide Government of Maharashtra notification WLP/1085/CR-75/F-5 Dt. 25.2.1986. The final notification declaring eco sensitive zone around the Phansad sanctuary was made by Government vide Notification 105.S.O. 1603 (E) dated 17.05.2017. The

Eco-Sensitive Zone Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas in India notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuarie ...

(ESZ) is spread over an area of 10.96 km² around the sanctuary. About 43 villages of

Murud taluka Murud taluka is a taluka in Raigad district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Raigad district As of August 2015, there were 8 sub-divisions, 15 talukas, 1970 villages, 60 revenue circles and 350 sazzas in Raigad district. The talukas being ...

and

Roha taluka taluka is a taluka in Raigad district of Maharashtra an Indian state. Raigad district As of August 2015, there were 8 sub-divisions, 15 talukas, 1970 villages, 60 revenue circles and 350 sazzas in Raigad district. The talukas being Alibag, Karja ...

are part of the eco-sensitive zone. The management plan for Phansad wildlife sanctuary is approved vide letter Desk-22(8)/WL/M Plan/CR-166 Part14/2988/17-18 on 21/12/2017 for the year 2016–17 to 20125-26 by the Government of India

Ecosystems

* coastal woodland ecosystem of the Western Ghats

Biodiversity

The sanctuary is rich in flora and fauna. The forest types are semi-evergreen, evergreen, Mixed deciduous and dry deciduous forests and grasslands and coast.

Faunal diversity

The sanctuary has a small population of Indian giant squirrel which is fragmented from the Western ghats. The fauna include 16 species of mammals, more than 200 species of birds, 17 reptiles, 47 insects and 27 marine invertebrates. The

White-rumped vulture The white-rumped vulture (''Gyps bengalensis'') is an Old World vulture native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000, as the population severely declined. White-rumped vultures d ...

(Gyps bengalensis) which is noted as critically endangered is also found in the sanctuary. Representative fauna include: *

Indian giant squirrel The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (''Ratufa indica'') is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel. Distribution and ...

(''Ratufa indica'') *

Indian muntjac The Indian muntjac or the common muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak''), also called the southern red muntjac and barking deer, is a deer species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. In popular local l ...

(barking deer) *

Indian Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

(Bos Gaurus) *

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 ...

("Cuon alpinus") *

Indian leopard The Indian leopard (''Panthera pardus fusca'') is a leopard subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. The species ''Panthera pardus'' is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because populations have declined following habita ...

(''Panthera pardus'') *

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 colou ...

("Manis crassicaudata") * Sambar (''Cervus unicolour'') * Lesser false vampire bat ("Megaderma spasma") *

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 ...

(''Tragulus meminna'') *

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

("Python molurus") * Bombay earth snake (''Uropeltis macrolepis'') * Giri's bronzeback tree snake ("Dendrelaphis girii") *

Southern Birdwing ''Troides minos'', the southern birdwing, also called Sahyadri birdwing, is a large and striking swallowtail butterfly endemic to south India. With a wingspan of 140–190 mm, it is the second largest butterfly of India. It is listed as Lea ...

("Troides minos") Avifauna includes: *

Sri Lanka frogmouth The Sri Lanka frogmouth, Sri Lankan frogmouth or Ceylon frogmouth (''Batrachostomus moniliger'') is a small frogmouth found in the Western Ghats of south India and Sri Lanka. Related to the nightjars, it is nocturnal and is found in forest habi ...

Spot-bellied eagle-owl The spot-bellied eagle-owl (''Bubo nipalensis''), also known as the forest eagle-owl is a large bird of prey with a formidable appearance. It is a forest-inhabiting species found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. This species is con ...

Floral diversity

The forest on the top hill of the sanctuary are evergreen which include mostly Anjan ( Memecylon umbellatum), Phansada (Garcinia talbootii) while those on the slopes are dry deciduous which include ain, kinjal,

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

, hirda, jamba, mango, and various

ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extendi ...

. The sanctuary has 710 species of Plants which include 179 species of trees, 66shrubs, 141 herbs etc. (Marathe 2004).

Gallery

Animals in the Sanctuary

File:Common baron female.JPG File:Echis carinatus(Saw Scaled Viper) Phansad.jpg File:Black Prince.jpg File:Nyctibatrachus spp.jpg Emigrants (UN).jpg Tawny coster1.jpg

Notes

External links

* {{Cite web, title=Satellite image, url=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KKjMMKe4XGQ/TE1W1bxKBCI/AAAAAAAAGnQ/oB6CjJodTh8/s1600/phansad.jpg Wildlife sanctuaries in Maharashtra Tourist attractions in Raigad district Nature conservation in India Malabar Coast moist forests 1982 establishments in Maharashtra Protected areas established in 1982