Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary


Kawal Tiger Reserve is located at Jannaram mandal of Mancherial District in Telangana state of India. Govt of India declared Kawal wildlife sanctuary as Tiger Reserve in 2012. The reserve is the oldest sanctuary in the northern Telangana region of the state. It is well known for its abundant flora and fauna. This sanctuary is catchment for the rivers Godavari and Kadam, which flow towards the south of the sanctuary.

History

The KWS was established in 1965 and later declared as a Protected Area in 1999 under the WPA, 1972.

Tiger reserve status

It was listed as tiger reserve in April 2012. In this regard habitat development is undertaken with release of 150 cheetals as prey population. To check poaching new check posts have been created. Traditional sources of water were improved.

Location

Mancherial district is situated between 18.8756° N, 79.4591° E. It is surrounded by Adilabad and Komuram Bheem on the north, Karimnagar and Nizamabad on the south and Nanded district on the west. It is located in the Mancherial district at a distance of from its district headquarters. It extended from the Sahyadri hillranges to the Tadoba forest in Maharashtra
It is spread over an area of. It is increasingly getting threatened by growing human encroachment, rampant poaching, illegal wood felling and habitat loss.
The reserve is accessible from Mancherial and from Hyderabad by road. The nearest airport is in Hyderabad.

Wildlife

Flora

The sanctuary is one of the richest teak forests in the state, with dense pristine areas free of human disturbance. The River Kadam flows through this area. Dry deciduous teak forests mixed with bamboo, terminalia, pterocarpus, anogeisus and cassias.

Fauna

that have been sighted include tiger, leopard, gaur, cheetal, sambar, nilgai, barking deer, chowsingha, and sloth bear. Several species of birds and reptiles are also found in the sanctuary.