THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary in Palakkad district in Kerala, home to some of the most endangered species of animals and birds, will be declared a tiger reserve on February 19 by union environment minister Jairam Ramesh.
"It will then become the second 'tiger reserve' in Kerala after Thekkady wildlife sanctuary and 38th in the country," state forest minister Binoy Viswam told reporters here.
The sanctuary will have a core area of 390.88 sq km and a buffer area of 252.77 sq km coming under Chalakudy, Vazhachal and Nermara forest division, he said.
Viswam said the government had taken all steps to ensure that functioning of plantations in the area was not affected due to the sanctuary being declared a tiger reserve.
He said the government had also taken number of steps to protect the environment and bio-diversity of the state, but did not specify what they were.
The sanctuary is home to animals like lion tailed macaques, Nilgiri Tahr and Gaur, reptiles like Indian rock python, Malabar pit viper, Travancore tortoise, south Indian forest ground gecko, 134 species of rare birds and 47 varieties of fish, of which seven have been listed as endangered.
No comments:
Post a Comment