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Site description (2004 baseline):

Ranebennur Blackbuck Sanctuary, located in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, is one of the few sanctuaries established for the wildlife of the Indian plains. It is about 120 km from Dharwad town. Administratively, it is part of Godag Forest Division, divided into three blocks namely, Hunashi Katti, Hullai and Alalgeri. Alalgeri block is separated from the other two by intervening agricultural lands, dividing the Sanctuary into two areas, about 7 km apart. The Sanctuary is surrounded on all sides by agricultural land owned by the local farmers (Karanth and Singh 1981). This sanctuary harbours the highly endangered Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps. Till the 1970s, the whole area was denuded and overgrazed, with very few wild animals left. The Forest Department took on a massive plantation programme.With the protection to the plantation, the beleaguered Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra got some respite from poaching and started increasing in number. When the prey based improved, the Grey Wolf Canis lupus returned to the area. In 1974, the Forest Department declared it a Sanctuary. The vegetation of the Sanctuary is classified as Southern Tropical Thorn Forest, with the tree cover of Acacia sp. and ground cover of Dodonaea, Cassia, Carissa and Lantana species and grass species of Cenchrus and Stylosanthes. Due to afforestation work, Eucalyptus sp. has become established as the dominant tree. Other species used for afforestation are Santalum album, Albizzia lebbek, Cassia sp., Prosopis spp. and Leucaena sp.

AVIFAUNA: About 90 species are known to occur in the Sanctuary. This site has been selected as an IBA mainly due to the presence of the Great Indian Bustard. Although the bustard population has drastically declined since the 1990s, the area still has potential for recovery if grassland habitat is maintained. Other common birds of the sanctuary are Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus, Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus, Montagu’s Harrier C. pygargus, Sirkeer Malkoha Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii, Common Sandgrouse Pterocles exustus, Peafowl Pavo cristatus, Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius and Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: Blackbuck is the star attraction of this Sanctuary, with a population of nearly 1,000. Their main predator is the Grey Wolf while fawns are sometimes killed by Golden Jackals Canis aureus. Jungle Cat Felis chaus and Indian Fox Vulpes bengalensis are other smaller predators, especially for eggs and chicks of the Great Indian Bustard. Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena is also reported. There are unconfirmed records of Leopard Panthera pardus. Wild Boar Sus scrofa has increased, much to the concern of villagers.

Owing to extensive plantation, forest species are being added to this Sanctuary. Common Langur Semnopithecus entellus and

Slender Loris Loris tardigradus are now seen. In future Spotted Deer Axis axis may also appear.

MAIN THREATS: Afforestation; Poaching; Fires; Overgrazing; Firewood collection; Unsustainable exploitation.

Introduction of the indigenous species of plants will ensure a natural habitat structure for the wild fauna. The biggest conservation issue of this IBA is the gradual disappearance of the Great Indian Bustard during the last 20 years, mainly due to lack of focused attention on the habitat requirement of this grassland bird. Most of the so-called ‘blanks’ (grasslands) under the control of the Forest Department have been planted with exotic trees, while open areas outside their jurisdiction are under tremendous grazing pressure.This leaves the bustard with no habitat. For the last 5-6 years, it has not been seen in Rannebennur, but even now, if effective conservation measures are taken and grassland developed, this rare bird might reappear. A management plan for the protection of bustard grassland habitat has been given by Rahmani (1989).

Key contributors: Ullas Karanth, Mewa Singh and Asad R. Rahmani.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ranebennur Blackbuck Sanctuary (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ranebennur-blackbuck-sanctuary-iba-india on 23/11/2024.