Purna Wildlife Sanctuary 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 Western Ghats mountain range, in the States of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Maharashtra 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 subdi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. In the

South Gujarat South Gujarat, also known as ''Dakshin Gujarat'' (''દક્ષિણ ગુજરાત''), is a region in the Indian state of Gujarat. The region has a wetter climate than other regions of Gujarat. The western part is almost coastal and is k ...

, it is located between

Vyara Vyara is a town and the district headquarters of the Tapi district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is 65 kilometres from Surat. Demographics India census, Vyara had a population of 36,213. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 5 ...

Tapi District Tapi district is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state in western India. It has seven talukas Vyara, Songadh, Nizar, Valod, Uchhal, Dolavan, Kukarmunda. Vyara town is the district headquarters. Tapi has 523 villages and two municipali ...

and

Ahwa Ahwa is the headquarters of Dang District in the state of Gujarat, in India. It is situated about 1800 feet (549 m) above the sea level. The whole district, inhabited by the tribal people, is a hilly area covered with thick forest. Venomous snak ...

, Dang District, and in Maharashtra, it is located in Nandurbar District. Apart from the Dangs' District, it is a part of the Northern Division of the Dangs' Forest. It was declared a

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

in July 1990.Forest and Environment Department, Gujarat
It derives its name from the Purna River, which flows through it.

Geography and climate

The sanctuary has thick forest cover of

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 ...

and

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, ...

. It has a

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...

with moderate to heavy rainfall. The average rainfall received by this region is about 2500mm. Three distinct climatic seasons are noted:

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

and

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

. Winter is from middle of November to end of February and the average temperature recorded during the coldest month of January is . Summer is from March to end of May when the temperature range is . Monsoon season sets in the middle of June or early July and lasts till September. A popular time to visit the sanctuary is early winter when the river and rivulets are full of fresh water. The nearest large city,

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is ...

, is away. Surat has an airport which provides links with the rest of the country.

is the nearest railway station, which is away. In a view to develop eco-tourism, the Government of Gujarat maintains Mahal Campsite in this sanctuary.

Fauna and flora

The sanctuary is within the

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 ...

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 ...

. There are about 700

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of plants and trees. Some of the wild animals found here are the leopard,

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally ...

bonnet macaque The bonnet macaque (''Macaca radiata''), also known as zati,Chambers English Dictionary is a species of macaque endemic to southern India. Its distribution is limited by the Indian Ocean on three sides and the Godavari and Tapti Rivers, along wit ...

, common mongoose, Indian civet cat,

Indian porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. De ...

four-horned antelope 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) ...

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 ...

, sambar,

chital 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 Po ...

, hyena, and

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat, swamp cat and jungle lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, littoral ...

. As with

Vansda National Park Vansda National Park, also known as Bansda National Park, is a protected area which represents the thick woodlands of the Dangs and southern Gujarat, and is situated in the Vansda tehsil, Navsari District of Gujarat state, India. Riding on the ...

, which is in

Navsari District Navsari is an administrative district in the state of Gujarat in India, with its headquarters at the city of Navsari. The district covers an area of 2,211 square kilometres and was formed in 1997 after Valsad district was split into Valsad and N ...

and the Dangs' Forest, and

Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in India's Gujarat state, located in the western Satpura Range south of the Narmada River and is large. It shares a common boundary with Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It encompasses mi ...

, which

Narmada District Narmada district is an administrative district in the state of Gujarat in India. The district headquarters are located at Rajpipla. The district is bounded by Vadodara and Chhota Udaipur districts in the north, by Nandurbar district of Mahara ...

shares with the State of Maharashtra, 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 ...

is reportedly extinct in this area, but the place where Gujarat borders the states of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and Maharashtra has tigers, nevertheless, making the Dangs Forest a potential habitat of the tiger.Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q., Sinha, P. R. (Eds.) (2011)
''Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India, 2010.''
National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. TR 2011/003 pp-302 Between 1999 and 2003, 139

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

species were recorded here. Some of the birds found here are common grey hornbills, grey jungle fowl, barbets,

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

s, shrikes,

leafbird The leafbirds (Chloropseidae) are a family of small passerine bird species found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They were formerly grouped with the ioras and fairy-bluebirds in the family Irenidae. As presently defined, the lea ...

bee-eater The bee-eaters are a group of non-passerine birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by ...

s, flycatchers, forest owlets and raptors.Bird list at ebird.org
/ref> As recorded in 2000-2001 the sanctuary is home for 116 species of spiders.Spiders of Purna Wildlife Sanctuary, Dangs, Gujarat - Manju Siliwal, B.Suresh and Bonny Pilo
/ref>

References

{{Reflist Wildlife sanctuaries in Gujarat Tapi district Wildlife sanctuaries of the Western Ghats North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests Nandurbar district 1990 establishments in Gujarat 1990 establishments in Maharashtra Protected areas established in 1990

Geography and climate

Fauna and flora

See also

References