Data Zone
Country/territory: India
IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (2004)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 43,123 hectares (431.23 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2003 | not assessed | very high | not assessed |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2004 baseline)
The Sharavathi Valley Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the Western Ghats. It has an area of 43,123 ha, but 12,363 ha (and an additional 507 ha of islands) in the eastern part of the Sanctuary is occupied by Linganamakki Reservoir, serving the dam on the Sharavathi river, constructed in 1964-65. The remaining area has been divided into a core zone (7,433 ha), buffer zone (17,067 ha) and tourism zone (5,753 ha). The Sanctuary shares its southwestern boundary with the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary (Manjrekar 2000). The spectacular Jog Falls, where water from the Sharavathi river falls from a height of almost 300 m, is present on the northern boundary of the Sanctuary. Sharavathi can be reached by road or rail from Bangalore to Talguppa (352 km) via Tumkur, Shimoga and Sagar, then another 7 km by road to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary has mainly tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen and some tropical moist deciduous forests. The top canopy of the evergreen forests is made up of Dipterocarpus indicus, Calophyllum tomentosum and Machilus macrantha. The middle storey has among others Caryota urens and Aporosa lindleyana. In the Semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, common species include Lagerstroemia lanceolata, Hopea parviflora, Dalbergia latifolia, Dillenia pentagyna, Careya arborea, Emblica officinalis, Randia sp., Terminalia sp. and Vitex sp.
Key biodiversity
AVIFAUNA: Around 50 species of birds are reported from the site (Ameen Ahmed pers. comm. 2003). However, this is only a preliminary list as detailed work has not been done in this IBA. This Sanctuary was selected as an IBA due to its great potential as an Endemic Bird Area, having Western Ghats restricted range bird species.
OTHER KEY FAUNA: The Sanctuary has a good population of Gaur Bos frontalis, and 3 to 4 groups of Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus. Other mammals of the Sanctuary include Tiger Panthera tigris, Leopard P. pardus, Wild Dog Cuon alpinus, Golden Jackal Canis aureus, Bonnet Macaque Macaca radiata, Langur Semnopithecus entellus, Wild Boar Sus scrofa, Spotted Deer Axis axis, Barking Deer Muntiacus muntjak, Mouse Deer Moschiola meminna, Common Otter Lutra lutra and Porcupine Hystrix indica. Reptiles of the Sanctuary include King Cobra Naja naja, Indian Rock Python Python molurus, Rat Snake Ptyas mucosus, Marsh Crocodile Crocodylus palustris and Monitor Lizard Varanus bengalensis.
Acknowledgements
Key contributors: Thejaswi Shivanand and Ameen Ahmed.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sharavathi Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (India). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sharavathi-valley-wildlife-sanctuary-iba-india on 23/12/2024.