Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary:
The state government’s move to build a village for tribals in the buffer zone of Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary has raised questions over their safety, besides concerns over fueling wildlife conflicts.
- It is nestled in the Western Ghats in the Kodagu district of Karnataka.
- It covers an area of about 181 sq.km.
- The sanctuary gets its name from the highest point, the Brahmagiri peak, which is 1607 m in height.
- The Lakshmana Tirtha River originates in the sanctuary and is a tributary of the Cauvery River.
- The area is generally of undulating terrain with several steep valleys and hillocks.
- The primary vegetation of the sanctuary includes evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, shoal forest patches in grasslands, and bamboos.
- It is surrounded by coffee and cardamom plantations.
- It is the home of the lion-tailed macaque, which is a rare and endangered species.
- Tiger, elephants, bonnet macaque, common langur, barking deer, mouse deer, Malabar giant squirrel, giant flying squirrel, and Indian Gaur are the big mammals commonly found here.