Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Wildlife Sanctuary

Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Wildlife Sanctuary

• Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is a protected area and tiger reserve located along the area straddling both the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats in the Erode District of Tamil Nadu.
• It lies on the banks of the Bhavani river, a tributary of the Cauvery in the foothills of the Western Ghats and is the headquarters of Sathyamangalam taluk.
• The Sathyamangalam Forest Division is part of the Bramhagiri-Nilgiris-Eastern Ghats Elephant Reserve notified in 2003.
  • In 2008, part of the Sathyamangalam Forest Division was declared a wildlife sanctuary.
• It was the fourth tiger reserve established in Tamil Nadu as a part of Project Tiger and is the third largest in the state.
• The reserve is a significant ecosystem and a wildlife corridor in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats and a genetic link between the five other protected areas which it adjoins, including the Billigiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, Sigur Plateau, Mudumalai National Park, Bandipur National Park and the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
• The reserve had a tiger population of 80 individuals in 2018 which was 25 in 2011. In 2022, the reserve won the TX2 award by World Wide Fund in collaboration with wildlife conservation agencies for its growth in tiger population.
• Terrain: It is hilly and undulated with altitude ranging between 750m and 1649m.
• Vegetation: It consists of southern tropical dry thorn forests, mixed deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, and Riparian forests.
• Climate:
  • It is subtropical and dry.
  • The summers are hot and dry; the monsoons are wet and cooler, with river flooding.
• Rivers: Some of the prominent rivers in the region include the Bhavani, Moyar, and Noyyal rivers.
• Tribal Communities: It is home to several indigenous tribal communities, including the Irula and Kurumba tribes.
• Flora: Common Species of trees and shrubs found are Albizzia amara Chloroxylon swictenia, Gyrocarpus jacquini, Neem, Tamarind, Sandalwood, Randi dumetorum, Zizyphus and associates.
• Fauna: The major species are Elephant, Tiger, Panther, Sloth bear, Gaur, Black Buck, Spotted deer, Wild boar, Black napped hare, Common langur Nilgiri langur, Striped neck mongoose and Bonnet macaque.