Concept in news : The Eastern Ghats : GREAT ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Source : The Hindu
Location : The Eastern Ghats – located eastern coast- discontinuous low mountain ranges in the country.
States : Runs to the Bay of Bengal for about 1,750 km, the range spans Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and even a few parts of Karnataka.
Rivers: Cut through by the four major rivers of South India - Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna and Cauvery – older than the Western Ghats. Vegetation : It comprises large contiguous stretches of scrub, tropical and dry deciduous, moist, mixed and semi-evergreen and mangrove forests. Minerals : It has deposits of iron, manganese, copper, bauxite, chromium, mica, gold, in addition to large reserves of slate, shale, sandstone and marble.
Birds : Darters, cormorants, grebes, egrets, herons, etc are among the most common birds sighted in the region. Rare and threatened : Malabar pied hornbill, and the rare Brook’s flycatcher and Jerdon’s baza too have been spotted.
Animals : Significance : Home for largest numbers of Asiatic elephants in the world. Common : Nilgiri tahr, leopard, sambar deer and tiger too abound the landscape. Vulnerable : Fishing cats, rusty spotted cats, pangolin, a nocturnal primate called slow loris, Indian mouse deer, snakes such as the king cobra have become vulnerable . Extinction facing : Bison, saltwater crocodile, water monitor lizard, palm civet, Asiatic wild dog, barking deer and hog deer .
SIGNIFICANT CAVE : Borra Cave Location : Ananthagiri Hill ranges Significance : Largest, deepest and oldest caves in the couintry, they are said to be at least a whopping 150 milion years old! Created by : Created due to the flow of the Gosthani river over a limestone area, the caves are spread over one sq.km. Discovery : Though ancient, they were discovered only in 1807 - by British geologist William King. The caves are home to a variety of speleotherms-a structure formed in a cave by the deposition of minerals from water
SANCTUARIES: There nearly 20 national parks, wildlife and bird sanctuaries, and tiger reserves. Here are the tiger reserves: * Satsokia Tiger Reserve * Simplipal Tiger Reserve * Sunabeda Tiger Reserve * Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve
