Sahyadri Tiger Reserve is a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

in the state of Maharashtra, created by the

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 ...

n government in 2008. Located in the Sahyadri Ranges of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, it is part of the

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

s of

North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests The North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern India. Geography The North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests lies in the northern portion of the Western Ghats (Sahyadri) range ...

and

North Western Ghats montane rain forests The North Western Ghats montane rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern Indian peninsula. It covers an area of , extending down the spine of the Western Ghauts range, from southernmost Gujarat through Damao ...

.Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment.'' Island Press;

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. pp 281-284. These ranges form a common boundary between Maharashtra,

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 ...

and

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, and constitute rich evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests. The area is spread over the four districts of Satara (

Mahabaleshwar Mahabaleshwar () is a small town and a municipal council in Satara district, Maharashtra, India. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus because Krishna river has its origin here. The British colonial rulers developed the town as a hill station ...

, Medha, Satara and Patan tahasils),

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks ...

(

Shirala Shirala also called Battis 2Shirala is a town and tehsil in Sangli District, India, away 60 kilometres west of the district headquarters, Sangli and about 350 kilometres from Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra state. It is particularly known ...

tahasil),

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is ...

( Shauwadi tahasil) and Ratnagiri (

Sangameshwar Sangameshwar Taluka is a taluka in Ratnagiri subdivision of Ratnagiri district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The headquarters for the taluka is the town of Devrukh.The headquarters was moved from the village of Sangameshwar to Devrukh in 1 ...

Chiplun Chiplun ( ͡ʃipɭuːɳ is a city in Ratnagiri district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is the financial and commercial Hub of Ratnagiri, and the headquarters of Chiplun taluka. It is about 320 km south of Mumbai in the Konkan ...

and Khed tahasils).

Area

The reserve spreads over

Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary Koyna may refer to: * Koyna River, a river which originates in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra * Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary, a wildlife refuge in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra * Koynanagar, a town at the site of the Koyna Dam * Koyna Dam, a dam ...

forming the northern portion and

Chandoli National Park Chandoli National Park is a national park established in Sangli district on May 2004. Earlier it was a Wildlife Sanctuary declared in 1985. Chandoli Park is notable as the southern portion of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, with Koyna Wildlife San ...

forming the southern part of the reserve. Recently reserve is extended towards

Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary ( mr, राधानगरी वन्यजीव अभयारण्य) is a wildlife sanctuary and natural World Heritage Site of category ix and x since 2012, located in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra S ...

. The total area of the tiger reserve is: * Core Area: * Buffer Area: * Total Area:

Fauna

The reserve is dedicated to the conservation of the

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

. On 23 and 24 May 2018, a tiger was photographed in a

camera trap A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by a change in some activity in its vicinity, like presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor – usually a passive infrared (PIR) senso ...

in Chandoli, the first direct evidence of tigers in the reserve in eight years. Prior to that, in 2014, scat DNA and model-based predictions were used to estimate that the reserve had 5–8 tigers. Other animals their include the leopard.

References

{{Tiger Reserves Of India Wildlife sanctuaries in Maharashtra Tiger reserves of India 2008 establishments in Maharashtra Protected areas established in 2008

Area

Fauna

See also

References