About Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary:
- Location: It is located in the Andhra Pradesh.
- It is part of the Godavari estuary, where the Coringa river confluences into the Bay of Bengal.
- Vegetation:It has extensive mangrove and dry deciduous tropical forests. It is the second-largest stretch of mangrove forests in India.
- Flora:Mangrove plants like Rhizophora spp, Avicennia spp, Sonnertia spp, etc; grow here.
- Fauna:It is home to endangered mammals like Smooth Indian otter, Fishing cat, Jackal, etc. Mangroves offer excellent habitat for birds like Black capped kingfisher, Brahminy kite, Sea gulls, Reef heron, Sand piper, etc.
- The sea coast of the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary is a breeding ground for Olive ridley turtles.
Key Facts about Asian Waterbird Census:
- It is a citizen-science programme that supports the conservation and management of wetlands and waterbirds worldwide.
- It is conducted annually and is part of the global International Waterbird Census (IWC).
- It was initiated in 1987 in the Indian subcontinent and since has grown rapidly to cover major region of Asia, from Afghanistan eastwards to Japan, Southeast Asia and Australasia.
- In India it is conducted under the aegis of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in early January.
