About Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary:
- Location: It is located in the Thane District of Maharashtra, 90 km northeast of Mumbai in the foothills of the Western Ghats.
- It is known to be a paradise for birdwatchers.
- It has two rivers, the Tansa and Vaitarna, and the sanctuary gets its name from the former, which divides the sanctuary into two parts.
- The sanctuary forms the catchment area of Tansa lake, along with the surrounding forests of Khardi, Vaitarna, Wada, and Shahapur ranges.
- Tansa reservoir, along with Vaitarna and Bhatsa reservoirs, is the major source of water for the cities of Mumbai and Thane.
- Within Tansa Sanctuary is a fort at Mahuli, situated on a 762 m high hilltop.
- Vegetation: The Sanctuary has Southern Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest, with a few patches of Evergreen forest.
- Flora: It consists of trees like Kalamb, Bibla, Khair, Hed, Teak, and Bamboo.
- Fauna:
- At least 54 species of animals and 200 species of birds exist in the sanctuary.
- Major wild animals are Panther, Barking deer, Mouse deer, Hyena, Wild boar,
- Two Critically Endangered Gyps species of vultures, the Vulnerable Pallas’s Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus, is also seen here.
