Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary – kadapa

About Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary

The bird Jerdon’s courser, found only in Andhra Pradesh, was first discovered in the year 1848 and last reported in the year 1900. This bird, widely believed to be extinct since then, was rediscovered in the year 1986 in the scrub jungles of Reddipalli village of Kadapa district. The Sanctuary forms the catchment for river Pennar. The Telugu ganga canal flows into the eastern flank of the Sanctuary draining into the ‘Pennar river’.

In the whole world, Sri Lankamalleswara Sanctuary is the only home and hope for the rare and endangered bird the Jerdona courser that was once thought to be extinct, later rediscovered after a span of 100 years in 1986.

Southern tropical dry deciduous forest in the hills, scrub forest in the plains, Southern dry mixed deciduous forest, patches of Dry Red sanders bearing forests and Hardwickia bipinnata forest, Tropical thorn forests and Tropical dry evergreen forest.

Flora – The rare and endangered plants like Red sanders and Sandalwood are important species found in this area. The riparian vegetation is very rich in floristic value, consisting of Terminalia spp, Syzygium spp, Wild mangoes, Anogeissus latifolia, Phoenix spp, Bamboo, Hardwickia binata, etc.

Fauna – This Courser habitat also has good representation of amphibian species like Common toad, Bullfrog, etc. The reptiles like Common Indian skink, Green vine snake, Common Indian Cobra, etc; are associated with this forest. Apart from Double banded or the Jerdon’s courser, other birds like Indian tree-pie, Common Indian Nightjar, Grey francolin, Grey hornbill, etc; are seen here. Endangered mammals like Panther, Jackal, Chinkara, Chowsingha, Sloth bear, etc; make this Sanctuary their home. This diversity in the amphibian life, reptilian life, avian life and mammalian life supplements the richness of the invertebrate fauna found in the forest.

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