BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has notified
Bukkapatna Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary in
Sira taluk of
Tumakuru district.
Bukkapatna happens to be only the second protected habitat for the rare antelope in the state after Yedehalli in Bagalkot district. Spread over 148 sq km, Bukkapatna sanctuary will be larger than Yedehalli. Also, Bukkapatna will be the southernmost tip of the distribution range of chinkara in India.
The realisation of
chinkara sanctuary in Tumakuru is attributed to the efforts of wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi, who first found chinkara at Bukkapatna as part of Nature Conservation Foundation’s camera trapping laid out to study leopard movement and proposed notifying a set of reserved forests as chinkara wildlife sanctuary.
The proposal was approved by the state board for wildlife under the chairmanship of chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in January and the related notification was issued on Thursday.