Context: In its latest step for wildlife conservation, the Tamil Nadu government has declared an area in the reserve forests of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri as the Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary.

Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary

• It would be part of a protected landscape contiguous with the forests that currently constitute the Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary, shared between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

• It has been made under Section 26A(1) (b) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Legal status and protection

• It will give uniform legal status and protection to a contiguous network of protected areas that would stretch to over 50 km.

• The declared landscape lends continuity to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve through the Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, Billigiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve of Karnataka, and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and Erode Forest Division of Tamil Nadu.

• Enhanced protection and restoration of habitat will help in reducing soil erosion and siltation of the downstream reservoir namely the Stanley Reservoir.

Elephant habitat

• It is an important elephant habitat comprising of two elephant corridors:

• The Nandimangalam-Ulibanda Corridor

• The Kovaipallam-Anebiddahalla Corridor.

• The sanctuary’s rich biodiversity supports over 35 species of mammals and 238 species of birds, which also includes red-listed species in need of conservation.

Conservation of species

• It is also seeing spill-over effects of tiger conservation in the adjacent contiguous areas, and habitat improvement will help recover prey base and support tigers that once inhabited this landscape in the past.

• It will also support conservation of leopards and other red-listed large carnivores.

• It is critical for a large number of riverine species dependent on River Cauvery like Leith's Soft-shelled turtles, Smooth-coated Otter and marsh crocodiles.

• Conservation efforts in this region will ensure the protection and restoration of habitat, minimisation of soil erosion and siltation of downstream Stanley Reservoir.

• Improvement of habitat in the sanctuary will increase prey base for tigers living in the nearby protected areas.