Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve

About Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve

• Location: It is located in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka State.
• The tiger reserve derives its name from 'BILIGIRI ', the white rocky cliff which has a temple of Lord 'VISHNU', locally known as ‘Rangaswamy’.
• This unique bio-geographical entity, situated in the middle of the bridge between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats in South India, was constituted as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1974.
• BRT Wildlife Sanctuary was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2011.
• The total area of the Tiger Reserve is 574.82 Km².
• 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.

Q1) What is a cliff?

A cliff is a mass of rock that rises very high and is almost vertical, or straight up-and-down. Cliffs are very common landscape features. They can form near the ocean (sea cliffs), high in mountains, or as the walls of canyons and valleys. Waterfalls tumble over cliffs. Cliffs are usually formed because of processes called erosion and weathering.

Source: BR Hills-bound vehicles to pay token green tax