Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary

Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary
Location	Aurangabad district, Jalgaon District Maharashtra, India
Nearest city	Aurangabad and Chalisgaon
Coordinates	20°19′57.0″N 75°08′27.0″E
Area	26.061 km^2 (10.062 sq mi)
Established	1986
Governing body	Maharashtra State Forest Department

Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary is a protected area of Maharashtra state, India. It lies in the Satmala and Ajantha hill ranges of the Western Ghats, and administratively is in Aurangabad District and Jalgaon District. The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1986 in an existing reserved forest area.^[1][2]

It covers a total area of 26,061.19 hectares (64,399 acres) with Reserved Forest Areas of 19706 ha. in Aurangabad and 6355.19 ha. in Jalgaon.^[3] Its name comes the nearby village of Gautala, which was itself named after Gautam Rishi, a Hindu ascetic mentioned in the Ramcharitmanas.

Wildlife

There are many species of animals like reptiles, mammals, and insects found here. More than 240 various bird species live here including Spoonbill, Peafowl, and Crane. In sanctuary areas, there are also many ancient temples, caves, lakes, and waterfalls which are attracted by tourists. The wildlife is well protected by the Maharashtra government, announced this place as a sanctuary established in 1986.

Ecology

The area is southern tropical dry deciduous forest with interspersed bush and grasslands.This topography supports wide variety of flora and fauna

Fauna

The wildlife include wide variety of animals. They are chinkara (Gazella bennettii), nilgai (antelope) (Boselaphus tragocamelus), sloth bears (Melursus ursinus), jungle cat (Felis chaus), leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), brown palm civet (Paradoxurus jerdoni), muntjac (barking deer) (Muntiacus muntjak), hare (Lepus nigricollis), leopard, fox, jackal, bats, wild boar, gray langur (Semnopithecus entellus), wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) and dhole (wild dog) (Cuon alpinus). 240 bird species have been observed in and around the sanctuary,^[4] among them are cranes, spoonbills, storks, ibis, pochards, peafowl, quail, partridges, and various species of wading birds. Snakes include the cobra (Naja naja), common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), and rat snake (Ptyas mucosus).

Flora

The hill tops in the sanctuary are grass lands where as most of the forest trees occur on the slopes.Trees include teak (Tectona grandis), anjan (Hardwickia binata), oil cake tree (Albizia amara), sandalwood (Santalum album), bel (Aegle marmelos), awla (Phyllanthus emblica), bhallatak (Semecarpus anacardium), and moha (Madhuca longifolia).

How to reach

The sanctuary is well connected by road. It is about 75 km from Aurangabad and 40 km from Chalisgaon city. The nearest rail head is Chalisgaon and airport is at Aurangabad also nearby towns Kannad City from where 2 to 3 Bus are available from Kannad in a day.

Features

• Pitalkhora caves, rock-cut, Buddhist caves, from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE
• Patnadevi Temple
• Mahadeva Temple
• Sita Khori a waterfall^[2]

Hanuman (Maruti) mandir road side...

Notes

1. Bhatt, Shankarlal C.; Bhargava, Gopal K. (2006). "Wildlife". Land and people of Indian states and union territories in 36 volumes, volume 16 Maharashtra. Delhi, India: Gyan Publishing House (Kalpaz Publications). p. 479. ISBN 978-81-7835-372-2.
2. "Gautala - for the eco tourist". Aurangabad Net.
3. "Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary". India 9. 7 June 2005. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008.
4. Co-ordinator Conservator of Forests, Aurangabad Forest Division (2010). "Vision 2020: Aurangabad Forest, Wildlife & Social Forestry" (PDF). Aurangabad (Maharashtra). p. 13. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2012-09-27.