About Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary:
- It is located in the northern part of Goa in the Western Ghats.
- It spreads over an area of 208 sq.km. and derives its name from the Mhadei river, which flows across this Sanctuary.
- There are a number of picturesque waterfalls within the sanctuary boundaries. The most prominent are the Vazra Sakla Falls and the Virdi Falls.
- The three highest peaks of Goa, Sonsogod (1027 m), Talvche Sada (812 m), and Vagheri (725 m), are located within this Sanctuary.
- Flora:
- The sanctuary’s dense forests are predominantly semi-evergreen and moist deciduous, hosting trees like teak, sal, and bamboo along with medicinal plants and orchids.
- The sanctuary is particularly well-known for its sacred groves that protect rare and indigenous trees.
- Fauna:
- Its fauna includes Bengal tigers, black panthers, leopards, sloth bears, gaur (Indian bison), and a variety of deer.
- The sanctuary is a huge attraction for herpetologists since it contains a large variety of snakes, including all of the ‘big four’ of Indian venomous snakes, which are the Indian krait, Russell’s viper, Saw-scaled viper, and Spectacled cobra.
- It boasts over 250 bird species, including the Malabar trogon, great pied hornbill, and Nilgiri wood pigeon, many of which are endemic to the Western Ghats.
- The cliff face near the Vazra Falls is notable for being the nesting grounds of the critically endangered Long-billed vultures.
