Kawal Tiger Reserve is a nature preserve located at

Jannaram Jannaram Mandal is situated in Mancherial District of the Telangana state in South India. Jannaram is famous for Kawal Wildelife Sanctuary Tiger Reserve. History Jannaram became mandal with effect from 22 May 1985. Before which it was in th ...

mandal of

Mancherial District Mancherial district is a district located in the northern region of the Indian state of Telangana. The district comprises 18 mandals and two revenue divisions – Mancherial and Bellampalli. The district headquarters is located at Mancherial ...

(Old

Adilabad Adilabad is a city which serves as the headquarters of Adilabad district, in the Indian state of Telangana. Telugu language, Telugu is the native language of Adilabad. Adilabad is famous for its rich cultivation of cotton. Hence, Adilabad is a ...

district) in the

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

state of

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 ...

. The government of India declared Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary to be 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 ...

Reserve in 2012. The reserve is the oldest sanctuary in the northern Telangana region of the state. It is well known for its abundant

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

. This sanctuary is catchment for the rivers Godavari and Kadam, which flow towards the south of the sanctuary.

History

The KWS was established in 1965 and later declared as a Protected Area (PA) in 1999 under the WPA, 1972.

Tiger reserve status

It was listed as a tiger reserve in April 2012. Due to this status, it was developed as a tiger habitat with the release of 150

cheetal The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian ...

s as a prey population. To reduce

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

, new checkposts have been created. Traditional sources of water were improved.

Location

Mancherial district is situated between 18.8756° N, 79.4591° E. It is surrounded by

and Komuram Bheem on the north,

Karimnagar Karimnagar is also known as Elagandula (Ancient name) is a city and District Headquarters in the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar is a major urban agglomeration and fifth largest City in the state. It is governed by Municipal corporation a ...

and Nizamabad on the south and Nanded district on the west. It is located in the Mancherial district at a distance of from its district headquarters. It extended from the Sahyadri hillranges to the Tadoba forest in Maharashtra (GoAP2012; Rajagopal 1976) It is spread over an area of , nearly 220,800 acres. It is increasingly getting threatened by growing human encroachment, rampant poaching, illegal wood felling and habitat loss. The reserve is accessible from Mancherial and from

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

by road. The nearest airport is in Hyderabad.

Wildlife

Flora

The sanctuary is one of the richest teak forests in the state, with dense pristine areas free of human disturbance. The River Godavari flows through this area. Dry

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

teak forests mixed with

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

, terminalia,

pterocarpus ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarp ...

, anogeissus and cassias.

Fauna

Mammal species that have been sighted include tiger, leopard,

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 ...

, cheetal, sambar,

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter S ...

barking deer Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

chowsingha The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), or ''chousingha'', is a small antelope found in India and Nepal. Its four horns distinguish it from most other bovids, which have two horns (with a few exceptions, such as the Jacob sheep). ...

, and sloth bear. Several species of birds and reptiles are also found in the sanctuary. About 48 tigers are currently staying at the sanctuary, according to unofficial government sources, a number which the government hopes will increase over time.

References

Tiger Reserve in Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary: Issues and Concerns by Bikku Rathod and M Rambabu published in International Journal of Innovative Research and Practices Vol.1, Issue 1, January 2013ISSN 2321-2926

External links

Official website

Forest Department of Telangana (India) State Government website
Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests Wildlife sanctuaries of Telangana Protected areas established in 1965 1965 establishments in Andhra Pradesh {{India-protected-area-stub