Umred-Pauni-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary, about 50 km from

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

and 60 km from

Bhandara Bhandara () is a city and municipal council which serves the administrative headquarters of eponymous administrative Bhandara Taluka and Bhandara district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is connected with NH-53 and NH-247. Overvie ...

, is spread over Pauni Tahsil of

Bhandara district Bhandara District (Marathi pronunciation: ʰəɳɖaːɾa is an administrative district in the state of Maharashtra in India. The district headquarters are located at Bhandara. The district occupies an area of 3717 km2 and has a population o ...

and Umred, Kuhi and Bhivapur Taluka of

Nagpur district Nagpur district (Marathi pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is a district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nagpur is the district administrative centre. The district is part of Nagpur Division. Nagpur distric ...

. This sanctuary has a connection with

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve The Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a wildlife sanctuary in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in India. It is Maharashtra's oldest and largest national park. Created in 1955, the reserve includes the Tadoba National Park and the Andhari W ...

through the forest along

Wainganga river The Wainganga is a river in India originating in the Mahadeo Hills in Mundara near the village Gopalganj in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh. It is a key tributary of the Godavari. The river flows south in a winding course through the states of Madhya Prade ...

. The sanctuary is home to resident breeding tigers, herds of Gaur, wild dogs and rare animals like flying squirrels, pangolins and honey badgers. It is bounded roughly by the

and the Gose Khurd Dam on the northeast, State Highway 9 and Bhiwapur Town on the south, Umred on the west and a narrow 10 km long range of 600 – 800 m hills to the northwest. It is located 40 km north of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve and 50 km southwest of Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary & 60 km from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Pench Tiger Reserve is 80 km to the northwest The number of tourists is increasing because it is very close to the Umred and Nagpur city. Tigers are commonly seen here by many villages around the sanctuary.

Wildlife

According to a 2014 report in the ''India Times'', 11 tigers, six leopards are in the sanctuary, in addition to wild dogs, sloth bears, bisons, nilgais, deer and sambars. In 2009, Umred-Karhandla was identified as having a good source population of tigers.

Mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

species such as 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 i ...

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 ...

Indian bison 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 ...

blue bull 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 Sim ...

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 ...

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

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 ...

, mouse deer,

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species i ...

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation ...

, and

wild dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of ...

live here. ;Tigers 5W7A3687 (2)

The

Wildlife Institute of India The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an autonomous natural resource service institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change, Government of India. WII carries out wildlife research in areas of stu ...

(WII) estimated the presence of three tigers in and around the sanctuary but the number has increased to five, with three new cubs sighted in March 2011. The field director of Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary said the 2011 births seemed to be the first litter of this tigress. "Better protection, good prey base and availability of water are three key factors why Bor is becoming a safe haven for tigers. Now the number of tigers has soared up steadily. The sanctuary now has three resident females rearing 10 cubs.," As per the 2015-16 tiger estimation report, there are five or six tigers in the Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary. ;Birds There are more than 90 species of birds belonging to 22 families of 12 different orders recorded in the sanctuary. This includes over 10 species of migratory birds and over seven species of

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

birds. ;Reptiles The reserve is home to over 19 species of reptiles belonging to nine families, of which four species are endangered, namely,

Indian cobra The Indian cobra (''Naja naja''), also known as the spectacled cobra, Asian cobra, or binocellate cobra, is a species of cobra found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan, and a member of the "big four" species that are ...

Russell’s viper Russell's viper (''Daboia russelii''), is a venomous snake in the family Viperidae native to the Indian subcontinent and one of the big four snakes in India. It was described in 1797 by George Shaw and Frederick Polydore Nodder, and named a ...

Indian rock python The Indian python (''Python molurus'') is a large python species native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is also known by the common names black-tailed python, Indian rock python, and Asian ...

, Indian rat snake, Chequered keelback and

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are rec ...

Tourism and conservation

The sanctuary provides connectivity between key tiger reserves like Tadoba, Pench, Bor and Nagzira. It thus also serves to reduce pressure of tourists and tourist-related activities from those protected areas because they are more eco-sensitive. Several water management programs have been created by the tiger protection NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). About 100 km of motorable road have been developed, out of which tourists are allowed on 44 km. The road can handle about 40 vehicles - 20 in the morning and 20 in the evening. The Forest Department has trained about 20 villagers from the nearby and surrounding areas as guides which provides them employment. The main entrance of the sanctuary is at Karhandla village. The following statistics pertain to the 2013-14 tourist season from 16 October to 28 February: *7,504 tourists (1,454 vehicles) visited Umred-Karhandla. *17,215 tourists (3,455 vehicles) visited Pench National Park. *6,551 tourists (1,190 vehicles) visited Bor Wildlife Sanctuary. Recently, there has been a sharp drop in ecotourism in the sanctuary. This has been attributed to the disappearance of Jai (the iconic tiger), ban on private vehicles & doubling of gate fee

Entry gates

Sanctuary can be access through 3 gates(Kharandla gate, Pauni gate, Gothangaon gate).

References

External links

* {{Nagpur district topics Tiger reserves of India Nagpur district Wildlife sanctuaries in Maharashtra Protected areas established in 2013 Tourist attractions in Nagpur district 2013 establishments in Maharashtra