KOUNDINYA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

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Context

• The three-day synchronised jumbo census has brought cheer to the Forest Department personnel of Annamayya district, with estimates suggesting the presence of about 60 elephants in Railway Kodur, Rajampeta, Sanipaya, and Balapalle ranges.

About Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is a wildlife sanctuary and an elephant reserve situated in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• It is the only sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh with a population of Asian elephants, which migrated after 200 years from neighbouring regions.

History

• Kaundinya is a region to which elephants have returned after 200 years.
• Thirty-nine of the elephants moved to the forests of Andhra Pradesh, a state which had no elephants before.
• This led to the government setting up the sanctuary in December 1990.

Geography

• The habitat of Kaundinya sanctuary is rugged with high hills and deep valleys.
• The sanctuary has dry deciduous forests with thorny scrubs interspersed with trees.
• These forests have small ponds, tanks and the Kaindinya and Kaigal tributaries of Palar River.
• The sanctuary is situated in region where the Kolar Plateau ends and slopes down into the plains of Tamil Nadu creating many valleys and ghats.

Kalyan Revu Water Falls

• Kalyana Revu WaterFalls (also called Kalyan Drive Falls) is a waterfall located to the North of Palamaner in the Chittoor district of India in the Koudinya Wildlife Sanctuary.

Kaigal Water Falls

• Kaigal Waterfalls is a waterfall located to the west of Palamaner in the Chittoor district of India in the Koudinya Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It lies between Palamaner and Kuppam national highway.

Flora and fauna

• Some of the important flora consists of Albizia amara, Acacia, Lagerstroemia, Ficus, bamboo, and a species which is a regeneration of Santalum album.
• The sanctuary is primarily an elephant reserve and is home to about 78 Indian elephants.
• The vulnerable yellow-throated bulbul is present in the sanctuary.
• Some of the other animals found in the sanctuary are sloth bear, panther, cheetal, chowsingha, sambar, porcupine, wild boar, jungle cat, jackal, jungle fowl, starred tortoise and slender loris.

Threats and conservation issues

• The threats faced in the sanctuary are man-animal conflict, over-grazing, illegal collection of wood.
• Insufficient fodder in the forest due to over-grazing by livestock, and availability of crops like sugarcane, sorghum and ragi attracts elephants, resulting in man-animal conflict.

About Seshachalam Hills

• They are hilly ranges part of the Eastern Ghats in southern Andhra Pradesh state, in southeastern India.
• The Seshachalam hill ranges are predominantly present in Tirupati district of the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Geology

• The ranges were formed during the Precambrian supereon (3.8 billion to 539 million years ago).
• Minerals contained in these hills include sandstone and shale interbedded with limestone.
• The ranges are bounded by the Rayalaseema uplands to the west and northwest, and the Nandyal Valley to the north.

Religious significance

• Tirupati, a major Hindu pilgrimage town is located in the hills.
• The hills contain seven peaks namely, Anjanadri, Garudadri, Narayanadri, Neeladri, Seshadri, Venkatadri and Vrishabhadri.
• The seven peaks are said to represent the seven hoods of Lord Adisesha, the king of serpents in Hindu mythology.
• The Srivenkateshwara National Park is also located in these ranges.
• The famous Natural Arch, Tirumala Hills is also a part of Seshachalam Hills, which dates back to the period in between Middle and Upper Proterozoic Eon.

Protected reserve forest

• In 2010, it was designated as a Biosphere Reserve.
• It has large reserves of red sandalwood which is used in medicines, soaps, spiritual rituals, etc.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/jumbo-census-in-seshachalam-hills-koundinya-wildlife-sanctuary-hints-at-sizeable-presence/article66870607.ece/amp/