BILIGIRI RANGANATHASWAMY TIGER RESERVE – ENVIRONMENT

News: 60 acres of forest affected by fire at BRT Tiger Reserve

 

What's in the news?

       Nearly 60 acres of forest were affected by a major fire, ostensibly triggered by some unidentified miscreants, at Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple Tiger (BRT) Reserve.

 

Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRT):

       It is located in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka State.

       This unique Bio-geographical habitat is in the middle of the bridge between the Western and Eastern ghats.

 

Uniqueness:

       The tiger reserve derives its name from 'BILIGIRI', the white rocky cliff which has a temple of Lord 'VISHNU', locally known as ‘Rangaswamy’.

       It was declared as a Tiger Reserve in 2011.

 

Vegetation:

       The forests of BRT Tiger Reserve are principally of dry deciduous type and are interspersed with moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, evergreen and shola patches occurring at varying altitudes.

 

Flora:

       The major species include Anogeissus latifolia, Dalbergia paniculata, Grewia teliaefolia, Terminalia alata, Terminalia bellirica, Terminalia paniculata etc.

 

Fauna:

       Animals including tiger, elephant, leopard, wild dog, bison, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, four-horned antelope, sloth bear, wild boar, common langur, bonnet macaque, varieties of reptiles, birds, etc., are found in the Tiger Reserve.