Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary

September 28, 2023

Kalyana Karnataka, a vast arid region comprising seven north-eastern districts of the State, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagara, has some pockets that give one a feeling of being in the middle of the dense Western Ghats.
One such place is Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary, located around the Chandrampalli Dam in Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district of Karnataka.
Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary, declared as such in 2011, is a vast jungle of 134.88 square kilometres spread over five blocks, Chincholi, Sangapura, Bhonsapur, Magdumpur and Shadipur.
The sanctuary has four dams, of which Chandrampalli is the major one.
It is the first dry-land wildlife sanctuary in South India and the only one in the region with rich biodiversity.
Flora– The sanctuary hosts several medicinal herbs and rare trees such as red sanders and sandalwood.
- It has good dry deciduous and moist deciduous forest in the core with acacia and teak plantations on the fringes.
Fauna includes blackbuck, common fox, four-horned antelope, fruit bat, hyena and Indian wolf.
- Over 35 species of birds, including black drongo, black-winged kite, blossom-headed parakeet, blue pigeon, black-headed oriole and grey partridge.