Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary

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About Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary

It is located in Palamner – Kuppam forest ranges of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
It is the only sanctuary in the whole state housing Asian elephants.
This Sanctuary comes under Project elephant – a Country wide Elephant Conservation Project taken up by Government of India.
Rivers: Kaigal and River Kaundinya flow through this sanctuary and is characterized by high hills, deep valleys.
Vegetation: Southern tropical dry deciduous forest, with patches of thorn, scrub and grassy plains.
Flora: Plants like Albizzia amara, Ficus glomerata, Zizyphus xylocarpus, Gymnosporia Montana, etc;
Fauna: Elephant, Panther, Sloth bear, Wild boar, Chowsingha, Nilgai, Hyena, Jackal, etc.

Key facts about Sri Lankan golden-backed frog

It is also known as Gravenhorst’s frog or Sri Lanka wood frog, belongs to the family Ranidae.
It was considered endemic to Sri Lanka, commonly found from sea level to 1250 meters in various districts including Anuradhapura, Galle, and Kandy.
The separation of India and Sri Lanka dates back to the early Miocene era, around 15 million years ago.
Throughout the Pleistocene, fluctuating sea levels periodically exposed and submerged the land bridge across the Palk Strait, facilitating biotic exchanges.
Hylarana gracilis, typically associated with freshwater habitats, shows a shallow genetic divergence (0.2% to 1.1%) between populations in the Eastern Ghats and Sri Lanka.

Q1:What are Deciduous Forests?

A deciduous forest is a biome dominated by deciduous trees which lose their leaves seasonally. The Earth has temperate deciduous forests, and tropical and subtropical deciduous forests, also known as dry forests.

Source: Sri Lankan golden-backed frog rediscovered after 200 years in India at Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary