Kali Tiger Reserve:
Conservation activists have expressed concern over tourism promotion through wildlife safari in the Kali Tiger Reserve.
- Kali Tiger Reserve, earlier known as Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve, is located in the central portion of the Uttara Kannada (North Canara) district of Karnataka.
- It covers an area of 834.16 sq.km.
- It comprises two important protected areas of the region, viz., Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and Anshi National Park.
- These two protected areas are contiguous to each other and form a single tract of the protected area located in the biologically sensitive Western Ghats.
- Kali Tiger Reserve shares a border with Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka) in the north, which is further connected to Radhanagari and Koyna wildlife sanctuaries in Maharashtra.
- The Kali River, which forms the major source of water for Uttara Kannada, flows through the tiger reserve, and hence the name.
- Forests are primarily moist deciduous and semi-evergreen, with excellent patches of evergreen forests in the westernmost parts as well as in deep valleys.
- The complex floral tapestry comprises hardwood trees like teak, silver oak, Malabar tamarind, jamba, lantana, bamboo, shrubbery, and dense vegetative undergrowth on the floor.
- Animals found in the Tiger Reserve include Tiger, Leopard, Elephant, Bison, Wild dog, Sambar, Spotted deer, Sloth bear, Wild boar, Hanuman langur, Bonnet macaque, varieties of reptiles and birds including all four species of hornbills as its residents., etc.
- The area holds one of the highest populations of Great Indian Hornbills in the Western Ghats.
- It is home to rare black panthers.
