Wildlife Sancturies

Wildlife Sancturies

Several wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and Project Tiger reserves have been created in Maharashtra, with the aim of conserving the rich bio-diversity of the region. As of May 2004, India has 92 national parks, of which six are located in Maharashtra.There are 4 project tiger areas in Maharashtra. viz Tadoba-Andhari, Melghat, Sahyadri and Pench. A large percentage of Maharashtra's forests and wildlife lie along the western Ghats or western Maharashtra and eastern Vidarbha.

·         Navegaon National Park, located near Gondia in the eastern region of Vidarbha is home to birds, deer, bears and leopards.

·         Nagzira wildlife sanctuary lies in Tirora Range of Bhandara Forest Division, in Gondia district of Vidarbha region. The sanctuary consists of a range of hills with small lakes within its boundary. These lakes guarantee a source of water to wildlife throughout the year, and heighten the beauty of the landscape.

·         Tadoba Andhari Tiger Project, a prominent tiger reserve near Chandrapur in Vidarbha. It is 40 km from Chandrapur.

·         Pench National Park, in Nagpur district, extends into Madhya Pradesh as well. It has now been upgraded into a Tiger project.

·         Bor Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Wardha district of Eastern Vidarbha. Due to large number of tigers along with other wild animals, Bor Wildlife Sanctuary has been declared Special Tiger Zone by Govt. of Maharashtra in 2012.

·         Chandoli National Park, located in Sangli district has a variety of flora and fauna. The Prachitgad Fort and Chandoli dam and scenic water falls can be found around the park.

·         Gugamal National Park, also known as Melghat Tiger Reserve is located in Amravati district. It is 80 km from Amravati.

·         Sanjay Gandhi National Park, also known as Borivali National Park is located in Mumbai and is the world's largest national park within city limits.

·         Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, a man made wildlife sanctuary situated 30 km from Sangli. Ancient temples of Lord Shiva and Jain Temple of Parshwanath located in Sagareshwar are an attraction.

·         Maldhok Sanctuary, situated in Solapur district. Some of its part is in Ahmednagar district. The sanctuary is for the Great Indian Bustard.

·         Tansa wildlife Sanctuary, situated in Thane district and along the Tansa and Vaitarna river. The major water supplying dams Tansa, Modaksagar and lower vaitarna are located in the Sanctuary. The fauna include Leopard, barking deer, Hyena, Flying squirrel and Wild boar. There are four forest ranges in the sanctuary-Tansa, Vaitarna, Khardi and Parli. The wildlife division headquarters is at Thane.

·         Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary, includes 896 ha mangrove cover along the western side of the creek (in Mulund , Vikhroli, Bhandup, Kanjurmarg and Mandala areas plus 795 ha of creek area which is partly exposed during low tide. This is the area used by thousands of flamingos for resting during high tide. The Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra, declared an area of 1,691 hectares (16.9 sq km) as Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary on August 6, 2015. The sanctuary is declared especially to protect the habitat of flamingos visiting the creek in thousands. 

·         Bhimashankar wildlife Sanctuary. This is situated in the western Ghats and is famous for the Malabar Giant squirrel. The sanctuary is located in Thane, Raigad and Pune district of Maharashtra.

Apart from these, Maharashtra has 35 wildlife sanctuaries spread all over the state, listed here. Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary are the important ones.

Apart from the above, Matheran, a Hill station near Mumbai has been declared an eco-sensitive

zone (protected area) by the Government of India.