The Melagiris are a range of hills on the Eastern Ghats, bound by the river

Cauvery The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari and Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin is estimated to be and encompasses the states o ...

on the west. Melagiri contain an expanse of 1295 km² of dry deciduous and semi-evergreen forests. It is an elephant country and contains two traditional elephant corridors. With the

Bannerghatta National Park Bannerghatta National Park is a national park in India, located In Bengaluru and Ramanagara District, Karnataka. It was founded in 1970 and declared as a national park in 1974.

in the North east and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in the south, the forest range stretches to sanctuaries of

BR Hills The Biligirirangana Hills or Biligirirangan Hills (as referred to in biology and geology) is a hill range situated in Chamarajanagar District in south-western Karnataka, at its border with Tamil Nadu (Erode District) in South India. The area is ...

and Sathyamangala and joins the tiger reserves of Nilgiri Biosphere. As the meeting point of the Western Ghats and

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

, these forests form a vital link in the elephant corridors of South India, connecting the

and the River Cauvery. It borders some of the prominent tiger sanctuaries of the south. Part of Melagiri hills ranges were declared as a Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary with effect from 12 March 2014 by the

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

as per the

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for the protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established schedule ...

Geography

Melagiri hills lie between the

Dharmapuri Dharmapuri is a city in the north western part of Tamil Nadu, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district which is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by splitting it from ...

and

Krishnagiri Krishnagiri () is a city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and it serves as the administrative headquarters of Krishnagiri District formed in 2004. It is located at the bottom of Krishnadevaraya Hills, and the town is fully surrounded by hill r ...

Districts of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

on one side and bordered by

on the

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

side. Forest covered hills and valleys are the predominant landscape, with the highest peak of Gutherayan rising up to and lowest . The forests are largely dry deciduous with some stretches of shola forests on the slopes of Gutherayan peak. The Melagiri hills receive a minimum of 700mm and maximum of 900mm of rainfall annually. Water sources: Cauvery, Dodahalla, Hebbahalla, Chinnar, Ponnaiar, Anaibiddahalla rivers

Flora

The Melagiri hills host mixed vegetation types such as thorn scrub, dry tropical riverine, dry deciduous, mixed deciduous, dry evergreen, and semi evergreen. The forests of the hill harbor many rare plants and trees such as giant Mangifera indica, Garcinia gummi-gutta, wild Balsam, wild jack, etc. Endangered species such as Shorea roxburghii also occur in the division. Significant trees such as old growth Mutti (Terminalia arjuna), Hardwickia binata, Ippe (Madhuca longifolia), Diospyros malabarica etc. occur here.

Fauna

{{Unreferenced section, date=January 2023 The area is home to the

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus''), also known as the Indian bear, is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of ...

marsh crocodile The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from south-eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marsh ...

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

and prey species such as

chital The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also called spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, mal ...

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

, sambar,

grizzled giant squirrel The grizzled giant squirrel (''Ratufa macroura'') is a large tree squirrel in the genus '' Ratufa'' found in the highlands of the Central and Uva provinces of Sri Lanka, and in patches of riparian forest along the Kaveri River and in the hil ...

four-horned antelope The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), also called ''chousingha'', is a small bovid antelope native to central, South and Western India, along with a smaller population in Nepal. The sole member of the genus ''Tetracerus'', t ...

and

smooth-coated otter The smooth-coated otter (''Lutrogale perspicillata'') is a freshwater otter species from regions of South and Southwest Asia, with the majority of its numbers found in Southeast Asia. It has been ranked as " vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List since ...

. The area is also home to the last few remaining

gray langur ''Semnopithecus'' is a genus of Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent, with all species with the exception of two being commonly known as gray langurs. Traditionally only the species ''Semnopithecus entellus'' was recognized, but si ...

in the Hosur Forest Division.

Birds

Grey junglefowl The gray junglefowl (''Gallus sonneratii''), also known as Sonnerat's junglefowl, is one of the wild ancestors of the domestic chicken together with the red junglefowl and other junglefowls. The species epithet commemorates the French explorer ...

grey-fronted green pigeon The grey-fronted green pigeon (''Treron affinis'') is a pigeon in the genus ''Treron''. It is found in the forests of the Western Ghats in India. Many authorities have split the species from the pompadour green pigeon complex. Description The m ...

crested honey buzzard The crested honey buzzard (''Pernis ptilorhynchus'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal Bird of prey, raptors such as kite (bird), kites, eagles, and harrier (bird), harriers. ''Pernis ptilorhynchu ...

Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture in the monotypic genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa ...

lesser fish eagle The lesser fish eagle (''Icthyophaga humilis'') is a species of ''Icthyophaga'' found in the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the foothills of the Himalayas, and south-east Asia. There are records from Gujarat, Central India and in more recent ...

brown fish owl The brown fish owl (''Ketupa zeylonensis'') is a fish owl species in the family known as typical owls, Strigidae. It is native from Turkey to South and Southeast Asia. Due its wide distribution it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...

, changeable hawk eagle,

Indian peafowl The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, or blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. While it originated in the Indian subcontinent, it has since been introduced to many other part ...

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

and

plain flowerpecker The plain flowerpecker (''Dicaeum minullum'') is a bird in the family Dicaeidae. The species was described and given its binomial name by Robert Swinhoe in 1870. It is found in the central Himalayas, through western Indonesia to Taiwan. Descrip ...

inhabit the hills.

Reptiles and amphibians

Indian cobra The Indian cobra (''Naja naja /na''dʒa nadʒa/), also known Common name, commonly as the spectacled cobra, Asian cobra, or binocellate cobra, is a species of Naja, cobra, a venomous snake in the Family (biology), family Elapidae. The species is ...

Indian python The Indian python (''Python molurus'') is a large Pythonidae, python species native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is also known by the common names black-tailed python, Indian rock python, ...

Russell's viper Russell's viper (''Daboia russelii)'' is a species of highly venomous snake in the Family (biology), family Viperidae. The species is native to South Asia. It was Species description, described in 1797 by George Shaw (biologist), George Shaw and ...

, Dhaman rat snake, keelback water snake and rare snakes like the racer '' Coluber bholanathi'', the

, lacertid lizard ''

Ophisops leschenaultii ''Ophisops leschenaultii'', Common name, commonly called Leschenault's snake-eye, Leschenault’s lacerta, and Leschenault's cabrita, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Lacertidae. The species is native to India and eastern Sr ...

'', Indian chameleon,

Bengal monitor The Bengal monitor (''Varanus bengalensis''), also called the Indian monitor, is a species of monitor lizard distributed widely in the Indian subcontinent, as well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia. Description The Bengal monitor can ...

and the

Indian star tortoise The Indian star tortoise (''Geochelone elegans'') is a threatened tortoise species native to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka where it inhabits dry areas and scrub forest. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2016, as the pop ...

occur here. Nearly 20 species of frogs and toads occur here including the rare rock-dwelling toad ''

Bufo hololius ''Firouzophrynus hololius'', known as Günther's toad, Malabar toad, or rock toad, is an uncommon, rock-dwelling toad found in the Eastern Ghats and Deccan plateau of peninsular India. Description The crown of this toad lacks bony ridges and has ...

''.Ganesh, SR A Kalaimani, P Karthik, N Baskaran, R Nagarajan. 2018. Herpetofauna of Southern Eastern Ghats, India – II, From Western Ghats to Coromandel Coast. Asian Journal of Conservation Biology 17(1):28-45

Conflicts and threats

*Elephant areas are being exploited for bamboo and leased for NTFP collection. Thus, during the migration of elephants, cause contact with human habitations and farms are often damaged. Wild Boars too are a major concern in crop-damage. *

Poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

Habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological proces ...

due to settlements * Fuel wood collection, cattle grazing, livestock penning and illegal felling * Forest fire * Increased biotic pressure due to industrial expansion around the division * Cattle competing with elephants for water and the usage of water by the local livestock dries up the waterholes. *

Lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropics, tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in num ...

, an invasive species with thorny bushes, is not eaten by any of the herbivores and its rapid spread has caused other species of fauna too to vanish. Rapid spread of

Chromolaena odorata ''Chromolaena odorata'' is also known as Jack in the Bush. It is a tropical and subtropical species of Flowering plant, flowering shrub in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Americas, from Florida and Texas in the United States so ...

has severely damaged the bio-diversity, and typical landscapes of this beautiful jungle is making way for this invasive weed.

References

Krishnagiri District Administration WebsiteIPS news on otters in Krishnagiripress clip
*Baskaran, N., K. Senthilkumar & M. Saravanan (2011). A new site record of the Grizzled Giant Squirrel ''Ratufa macroura'' (Pennant, 1769) in the Hosur forest division, Eastern Ghats, India and its conservation significance. ''Journal of Threatened Taxa.'' 3(6): 1837–1841. *Chandramouli, S.R., S.R. Ganesh & N. Baskaran (2011). On recent sightings of a little known toad, ''Duttaphrynus hololius'' (Günther,1876) with notes on its morphological characterization and ecology.''Herpetology Notes'' 4: 271–274. *Ganesh S. R., Adimallaiah D., Kailash P. K. (2013). New locality records of Nagarjun Sagar Racer Snake, ''Coluber bholanathi'' Sharma, 1976. ''Herpetotropicos.'' 9 (1-2): 09-12.

External links

KANS Melagiri blog
Hills of Tamil Nadu