Previous Year Question

The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is located at the meeting zone of the Eastern and Western Ghats in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu.

Its geographical position makes it an important ecological link and wildlife corridor between the two mountain systems.

It connects the wider forest landscape of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in the west with the forests of the Eastern Ghats.

This connectivity enables tigers, Asian elephants, leopards, dholes, gaur and other wildlife to move between different protected areas.

Wildlife corridors maintain gene flow between separate populations and reduce the risk of inbreeding.

These corridors help animals move between different regions in search of food, water, breeding grounds and seasonal habitats.

The Nilgiri landscape containing Mudumalai, Bandipur, Nagarhole and Wayanad lies to the west and south-west of Sathyamangalam.

Towards the east and south-east, its forests establish connections with different forest blocks of the Eastern Ghats and the Cauvery landscape.

The Sathyamangalam region contains dry deciduous forests, moist deciduous forests, thorn scrub, riverine forests and grasslands.

The Bhavani and Moyar rivers and their tributary streams are important for the ecology and wildlife of this landscape.

Sathyamangalam was declared a tiger reserve in 2013.

Nallamala Forest forms part of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and is associated with the Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve.

Nallamala Forest does not itself form a direct ecological link between the Western and Eastern Ghats.

Nagarhole National Park is located in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri landscape of Karnataka, but it is not the connecting zone between the two Ghats.

Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve is situated in the Seshachalam Hills of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh and is known for endemic flora such as red sanders.

Seshachalam is also not the principal link between the Eastern and Western Ghats.