Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary Latest News

Recently, experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, have collared three endangered fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) for the first time in India to study various factors such as home range, behaviour, breeding, and prey patterns of the species, in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS).

About Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is part of the Godavari estuary, where the Coringa river confluences into the Bay of Bengal in the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh.
• About 40% of the sanctuary is only sea-backwaters and the rest of the area is intermingled with creeks and gets inundated with tidal waters.
• Vegetation: It has extensive mangrove and dry deciduous tropical forests. It is the second-largest stretch of mangrove forests in India.
• Flora: Mangrove plants like Rhizophora spp, Avicennia spp, Sonnertia spp, etc; grow here.
• Fauna: It is home toendangered mammals like Smooth Indian otter, Fishing cat, Jackal, etc. Mangroves offer excellent habitat for birds like Black capped kingfisher, Brahminy kite, Sea gulls, Reef heron, Sand piper, etc.
• The sea coast of the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary is a breeding ground for Olive ridley turtles.

Key Facts about Fishing Cat

• It is a medium-sized wild cat.
• It is solitary and nocturnal hunters that rest during the day amongst dense vegetation and then at night head to the water to find food. They are very strong swimmers.
• Appearance: It is a “small” cat of medium size and stocky build, with short legs, a short tail, and a face that is round but elongated. Females are noticeably smaller than males.
• Habitat: They live primarily in wetland areas, swamps, and marshy areas around oxbow lakes, reed beds, tidal creeks, and mangrove forests. 

Distribution of Fishing Cat

• In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the Himalayas along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Western Ghats.
• They are mainly found in Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka and parts of Pakistan, in western India to southern China, Java, and Sumatra.

Conservation Status of Fishing Cat

• IUCN: Vulnerable
• CITES: Appendix II
• Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule I

Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary FAQs

Q1: Which river flows through Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary?

Ans: River Godavari

Q2: What are Mangroves?

Ans: Mangroves are unique coastal ecosystems found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world.

Source: TH