Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary is a sanctuary for birds, in area, located in the

Tirupati district Tirupati district () is one of the eight districts of Rayalaseema region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.The district headquarters is located at Tirupati city. This district is known for its numerous historic temples, including the Hindu ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

of the

Thiruvallur District Thiruvallur District, also spelled as Tiruvallur District, is one of the 38 districts (an administrative district) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The fast developing city of Tiruvallur is the district headquarters. The district has a mixture ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish-water eco-system in India after Chilka lake in

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

.Tamil Nadu Forest Department retrieved 9/9/200
Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary
The sanctuary's international name is Pulicat Lake Wildlife Sanctuary ( IBA Code: IN261, Criteria: A1, A4iii).

Geography

Central location is: . is managed by the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department and is managed by the

Tamil Nadu Forest Department The Tamil Nadu Forest Department, formerly the Madras Forest Department, is a Government of Tamil Nadu, government department responsible for managing all the Protected areas of Tamil Nadu, protected areas and forests plus Environmental polic ...

. is a National Park area. Rainfall ranges from 800–2000 mm. Temperature varies from . Altitude ranges from above mean sea level to above mean sea level.

Flora

The green kingdom is represented with about 132 plant species like Walsura piscida; Manilkara elengi, Excoecaria agallocaha, Spinifex littoreus, Calamus viminalis, and many more

Fauna

The sanctuary is rich in

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

life including planktons, molluscs, insects, coelenterates and crustaceans. Jackal, Jungle cat, Black napped hare; are a few of the mammalian species inhabiting the Sanctuary. The sanctuary has many

greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the Him ...

s. It attracts many

migratory birds Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. The ...

and also is a feeding and nesting ground for aquatic and terrestrial birds such as pelicans,

storks Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout Beak, bills. They belong to the family (biology), family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, suc ...

, etc. The

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of this lake attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors per year.

Threats

Pulicat Lake may disappear within 100 years by being filled up with

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

.Raj, P. J. Sanjeeva
Macro Fauna of Pulicat Lake
, National Biodiversity Authority Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. (2006) Efforts by government and private non-governmental organizations are working to halt lake destruction. The Art & Architecture Research, Development and Education (AARDE) Foundation does regular activities at Pazhaverkadu to create awareness on the vanishing lagoon.

References

Bird sanctuaries of Andhra Pradesh Bird sanctuaries of Tamil Nadu Coromandel Coast Nellore district Tiruvallur district Protected areas with year of establishment missing {{Nellore-geo-stub

Geography

Flora

Fauna

Threats

See also

References