About Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary:
- It is located in Palamner - Kuppam forest ranges of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
- It is the only sanctuary in the whole state housing Asian elephants.
- This Sanctuary comes under Project elephant - a Country wide Elephant Conservation Project taken up by Government of India.
- Rivers: Kaigal and River Kaundinya flow through this sanctuary and is characterized by high hills, deep valleys.
- Vegetation: Southern tropical dry deciduous forest, with patches of thorn, scrub and grassy plains.
- Flora: Plants like Albizzia amara, Ficus glomerata, Zizyphus xylocarpus, Gymnosporia Montana, etc;
- Fauna: Elephant, Panther, Sloth bear, Wild boar, Chowsingha, Nilgai, Hyena, Jackal, etc.
Key facts about Sri Lankan golden-backed frog
- It is also known as Gravenhorst's frog or Sri Lanka wood frog, belongs to the family Ranidae.
- It was considered endemic to Sri Lanka, commonly found from sea level to 1250 meters in various districts including Anuradhapura, Galle and Kandy.
- The separation of India and Sri Lanka dates back to the early Miocene era, around 15 million years ago.
- Throughout the Pleistocene, fluctuating sea levels periodically exposed and submerged the land bridge across the Palk Strait, facilitating biotic exchanges.
- Hylarana gracilis, typically associated with freshwater habitats, shows a shallow genetic divergence (0.2% to 1.1%) between populations in the Eastern Ghats and Sri Lanka.
