Biligiriranga Hills
Biligirirangana Hills | |
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Location | Yelandur Taluk, Chamarajanagar, India |
Nearest city | Kollegal 30 kilometres (19 mi) |
Coordinates | 11°59′38″N 77°8′26″E / 11.99389°N 77.14056°E |
Elevation | 1707 m |
Established | 27 June 1974 |
Governing body | Karnataka Forest Department |
The Biligirirangana Hills or Biligirirangan Hills (as referred to in biology and geology
Location
The hills are located at the north-west of the Western Ghats and the westernmost edge of the Eastern Ghats. Thus this area supports a diverse flora and fauna in view of the various habitat types present. A wildlife sanctuary of 322.4 square kilometres (124.5 sq mi) was created around the temple on 27 June 1974, and enlarged to 539.52 square kilometres (208.31 sq mi) on 14 January 1987. The sanctuary derives its name Biligiri (white hill in Kannada) from the white rock face that constitutes the major hill crowned with the temple of Lord Ranganathaswamy (Lord Vishnu) or from the white mist and the silver clouds that cover these hills for a greater part of the year. An annual festival of Lord Vishnu, held in the month of April, draws pilgrims from far and wide. Once in two years, the Soliga Tribals present a 1-foot and 9 inches slipper, made of skin, to the deity in Biligiriranga Hills.
The hills are in the Yelandur,
Geography
The BR hills are a starting point of the Eastern Ghats and contact the border of the Western Ghats, allowing animals to move between them and facilitating gene flow between populations of species in these areas. Thus, this sanctuary serves as an important biological bridge for the biota of the entire
The BR hills along with the
Biogeographically, the sanctuary is unique. It is located between 11° and 12° N and the ridges of the hills run in the north–south direction. It is a projection of the Western Ghats in a north-easterly direction and meets the splintered hills of the Eastern Ghats at 78° E. This unique extension / offshoot of Western Ghats constitutes a live bridge between the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats with the sanctuary located almost in the middle of this bridge. Thus, the biota of BRT sanctuary can be expected to be predominantly of Western Ghats in nature with significant proportion of eastern elements as well.[4]
Climate and vegetation
The sanctuary, ~35 km long north–south and ~15 km wide east–west, is spread over an area of 540 km2 with a wide variation in mean temperature (9 °C to 16 °C minimum and 20 °C to 38 °C maximum) and annual rainfall (600 mm at the base and 3000 mm at the top of the hills) The hill ranges, within the sanctuary raise as high as 1200 m above the basal plateau of 600 m and run north–south in two ridges. The wide range of climatic conditions along with the altitude variations within the small area of the sanctuary have translated it into a highly heterogeneous mosaic of habitats such that we find almost all major forest vegetation types –
The forests harbour close to 800 species of plants from various families and shows a close affinity to the Western Ghats.[5]
Flora and fauna
The Biligiris are
The most conspicuous mammals in the BR Hills are the herds of wild
The other mammals include
Threats
Gallery
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Brown fish owl, BRT Chamarajanagar
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Dark blue tiger butterflies, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
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Striped tiger and common Indian crow butterflies, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
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Gaur (bison) chital herd, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
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Common Indian muntjac or barking deer (male), BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
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Sambar stag, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
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Sloth bear pair, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
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Spot bellied eagle owl, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
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Purple rumped sunbird, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
References
- S2CID 4196566.
- ^ "BR Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary".
- ^ Anon. "Karnataka Gazette Notification" (PDF). Karnataka Rajyapatra. Government of Karnataka. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ Srinivasan, U. and Prashanth N. S. (2006): Preferential routes of bird dispersal to the Western Ghats in India: An explanation for the avifaunal peculiarities of the Biligirirangan Hills. Indian Birds 2 (4): 114–119.PDF Archived 19 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ramesh, B. R. (1989) Flora of BR Hills French Institute of Pondicherry
- ^ Ganeshaiah, K. N., R. Uma Shaanker and K. S. Bawa. (1998) Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary: Natural history, biodiversity and conservation. ATREE and VGKK, Bangalore
- ^ Srinivasa, T. S., S. Karthikeyan. and J. N. Prasad. (1997) Faunal survey of the Biligirirangan Temple Wildlife Sanctuary. Merlin Nature Club, Bangalore.
- ^ Islam, Z. and A. R. Rahmani. (2004) Important Bird Areas in India: Priority areas for conservation. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, BirdLife International, UK and Oxford University Press, Mumbai
- ^ Aravind, N. A., D. Rao, and P. S. Madhusudan. (2001) Additions to the Birds of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India. Zoos' Print Journal 16 (7): 541–547.
- ^ Srinivasan, U. and Prashanth N.S. (2005): Additions to the Avifauna of the Biligirirangans. Indian Birds. 1(5): 104 [1] Archived 19 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ DHNS (1 April 2011). "Students make BR Hills plastic free". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ "Karnataka chief wildlife warden issues directions against illegal resorts, homestays in BRT Tiger Reserve". The Indian Express. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.