Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary:
With Chandaka wildlife sanctuary having a lot of anthropogenic pressure, particularly due to the presence of cattle, the wildlife wing of the forest department has put on hold the ambitious Indian gaur (bison) translocation programme.
- Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
- It represents the northeastern limits of the Eastern Ghats.
- It was declared primarily to preserve wild elephants and elephant habitats.
- The Kumarkhunti reservoir is the only water reservoir inside the sanctuary that sustains wildlife during the summer.
- Flora is moderately diverse with an intimate mixture of evergreen and deciduous elements.
- Main tree species are Kochila, Kalicha, Belo, Kangada, Giringa, Sunari, Sal, Kumbhi, Jamu, Karanja, Teak, and Sidha.
- Elephants, Chital, Barking Deer, Wild Boar, Rhesus Monkey, Pangolin, Sloth Bear, Indian Wolf, Hyena, and other mammals.
- A variety of snakes, like the Python and the monitor lizard, can also be sighted there.
- Prominent birds of the sanctuary are peafowl, red junglefowl, crested serpent eagle, great horned owl, black headed oriole, paradise flycatcher, coucal and stone curlew.
