Adichunchunagiri Wildlife Sanctuary (18201)
India, Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2007
National site name: Adichunchunagiri Wildlife Sanctuary
Central coordinates: Latitude: 12.9167, Longitude: 76.6667
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 800 00
Area of KBA (km2): 0.76232
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: This tiny Sanctuary is situated near the Chunchunagiri Temple, a pilgrim centre in Mandya district. It consists of undulating terrain, scrub forests and plantations. The core of the Sanctuary consists of typical inland South Indian Hill characterised by gaint tors heaped up on by boulders of varied sizes. It is the only Sanctuary in India declared especially for the peafowl, and is named Mayur Vana (Peafowl Forest) in the notification. People in the area are known to give protection to this bird due to religious sentiments. The Sanctuary has five seasonal streams, and three perennial waterholes, of which one is natural and two artificial. It can be reached by road from Bangalore to Nelligere (100 km) via Nagamangala, and then 12 km further on to the Sanctuary. Tropical Dry Deciduous Scrub and Southern Thorn Scrub are the major forest types (Rodgers and Panwar 1988). Most of the natural scrub forest has been cleared to plant Eucalyptus. This was done before declaration of the Sanctuary. The dominant natural trees are Acacia nilotica, A. leucophloea, Albizzia amara, Anogeissus latifolia, Azadirachta indica, Tamarindus indica and species of Ficus. Calotropis gigantea attracts many birds and butterflies
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas) KBA identified in the CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the Western Ghats Hotspot (2007). Taxonomy, nomenclature and threat status follow the 2002 IUCN Red List.
Additional biodiversity: AVIFAUNA: This Sanctuary has been selected as an IBA due to the presence of a good population of Yellow-throated Bulbul Pycnonotus xantholaemus (S. Subramanaya pers. comm. 2003). Although the site lies in Biome-11 (Indo-Malayan Tropical Dry Zone), it also has some species of Biome-10 (Indian Peninsula Tropical Moist Forest) such as Small Green-billed Malkoha Phaenicophaeus viridirostris, White-cheeked Barbet Megalaima viridis, Loten’s Sunbird Nectarinia lotenia and Jerdon’s Nightjar Caprimulgus atripennis. BirdLife International (undated) has identified 59 species under Biome-11 (Indo-Malayan Tropical Dry Zone), out of which 13 have been seen in this site till now, most of them quite common and widely distributed. OTHER KEY FAUNA: Despite its small size (88 ha only), Adichunchunagiri Wildlife Sanctuary has many mammals, due to the protection provided by the temple authorities. Even Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus and Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra are reported here. The site has about 12 species of reptiles, five species of amphibians and an interesting diversity of other inverteberate fauna (Prasad et al. 1991).
Habitats
Land use: forestry
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 100 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: MAIN THREATS: Excessive human interference; Vegetation denuded by increasing pressure from pilgrims. Except for the disturbance by pilgrims, there does not appear to be any major issue. Even this cannot be considered of any significance, because the Sanctuary owes its existence to the temple. Peafowl move freely and are the main attraction to many pilgrims. Grazing by cattle and browsing by goats has affected the non-tree vegetation in the Sanctuary, especially on the shrub Secureniga leucopyrus, the fruit of which is eaten by over half dozen birds including the Yellow-throated Bulbul. Granite quarring and poaching was recorded (Prasad et al. 1991). About 50,000 pilgrims visit the temple during festive occasion. In recent years, increasing numbers of pilgrims are putting pressure on the forest. This can be stopped through the active involvement of the Temple trustees.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Intentional use (species being assessed is the target) | Only in the past and unlikely to return |
| Biological resource use | Logging & wood harvesting | Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Ongoing |
| Energy production & mining | Mining & quarrying | Only in the past and unlikely to return | |
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Recreational activities | Ongoing | |
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Work & other activities | Ongoing |
Additional information
References: BirdLife International (undated) Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Asia. Project briefing book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K., unpublished. Prasad, J. N., Karthikeyan, S. and Subramanya, S. (1991) A preliminary status survey report on Adichunchunagiri Peacock Sanctuary. report submitted to World Wide Fund for Nature-India, Bangalore. pp.23. Rodgers, W. A. and Panwar, H. S. (1988) Planning a Wildlife Protected Area Network in India: Vol II - State Summaries. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun.
Contributors: Key contributors: S. Subramanya, J. N. Prasad and S. Karthikeyan.