Coringa wildlife sanctuary

Coringa wildlife sanctuary is a stunning mangrove forest and estuary located 22km away from Kakinada Beach in Andhra Pradesh, India. This mangrove is developed at the confluence of river Godavari and the Bay of Bengal.

It is the home of 24 species of mangrove trees and over species of 120 birds, making it the 2nd largest mangrove formation after Sundarbans. Among numerous bird breeds, the severely endangered long-billed vulture and the white-backed vulture are the main attractions of this sanctuary.

for their reference.

This article contains further details crucial for UPSC Prelims, mainly for IAS Preparation.

Geographic Overview of Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

• This sanctuary is 8km away from Kakinada.
• It is situated on the alluvial delta of the Godavari and Gouthami Rivers at Kakinada Bay.
• Its latitudinal extension is 16°30′ N to 17°00′ N, and longitudinal extension is 82°14′ E to 82°23′ E.
• The region has an annual average temperature of 28° C. It ranges between 17° C of minimum and 40° C of maximum temperature throughout the year.
• Also, the annual mean rainfall is more than 1,000 mm.
• Half the sanctuary area is a backwater that includes an 18km long sandpit.
• Deltaic branches of rivers Gaderu and Coringa intersect this area, forming swampy vegetation of 335.7 sq. km.
• The vegetation includes tidal mangroves and tropical deciduous forests.

Flora in Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

Coringa wildlife sanctuary has a mangrove forest that houses 35 plant species from 24 families. Below are some of the commonly found plant species in this sanctuary.

• Avicennia marina
• Rhizophora mucronata
• Lumnitzera racemosa
• Avicennia officinalis
• Excoecaria agallocha
• Ceriops decandra
• Avicennia alba
• Rhizophora conjugata
• Bruguiera gymnorrhiza
• Aegiceras corniculatum
• Sonneratia apetala
• Hibiscus tiliaceus
• Thespesia populneoides

Along with the species of trees, the following are 2 distinguished species of shrubs.

• Derris trifoliata
• Dalbergia spinosa

Besides, travellers can find some notable species of herbs and grasses as follows.

• Suaeda maritima (herb)
• Sesuvium portulacastrum (herb)
• Salicornia brachiata (herb)
• Suaeda monoica (herb)
• Porteresia coarctata (grass)
• Aeluropus lagopoides (grass)
• Myriostachya wightiana (grass)

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Fauna in Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

The sanctuary is a habitat of an abundance of bird breeds fed on the resources accessible in the backwater and forest. They find small fishes, clams and shrimps on the raised mudflats exposed during low tide.

These breeds combine critically endangered, moderately threatened, and vulnerable birds. Following are some names of these species with specified categories.

Critically Endangered Species

• Long-billed Vulture
• White-backed Vulture

Moderately Threatened Species

• Ferruginous Pochard
• Painted Stork
• Oriental white Ibis

Vulnerable Species

• Spot-billed Pelican

Besides, tourists can find a wide variety of 120 common mangrove birds in this sanctuary. Some names of those species are as follows.

• Crow pheasant
• Seagulls
• Small Blue Kingfisher
• Pied Kingfisher
• Black-capped Kingfisher
• Little Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Sandpiper
• Redshank
• Little stint
• Reef heron
• Night-heron
• Pond heron
• Grey heron
• purple heron
• Red-wattled Lapwing
• Flamingos
• Little cormorant
• Brahmini kite
• openbill stork

Here is a list of notable mammals or the animals of Coringa wildlife sanctuary.

• Fishing cat
• Golden jackal
• Smooth-coated otter

Besides them, some significant vertebrate species are as follows.

• Sea turtle
• Olive or Pacific Ridley Sea Turtles
• Rat snake
• Common cobra
• Shrimps
• Gastropods
• Molluscs
• Crabs

Lastly, a rich diversity of amphibians is present in the sanctuary, such as frogs and mudskippers.

To read about the other Species in News, important from the UPSC prelims perspective, candidates can visit the linked article.

Threats of Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

Several anthropological activities create a threat to the forest and its inhabitants. Below are some of those human activities.

• This sanctuary is easily accessible from the port city and the nearby villages that are highly populated. According to socio-economic research by Bird Conservation Network, the local fishermen depend excessively on the mangrove forest. They gather wood and other resources from there to fulfil their basic needs.
• An increasing amount of habitat demolition and poaching hampers the existence of otters. In addition, increasing aqua farming and fishing due to rapid industrialisation lowered the population of otters. However, the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department has taken multiple actions to conserve the otter population, and prevent the deforestation of mangroves.

According to the news, Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary and other places in Andhra Pradesh have been selected to conduct the Asian Waterbird Census 2021. This signifies the great diversity of birds that includes rare, endangered as well as common species. Apart from that, Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary offers a magnificent faunal diversity consisting of rare animals, vertebrates, and amphibians.

To conclude, this article contains all the vital information about the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary for UPSC preparation. However, aspirants must be aware of other current affairs about this topic to amp up their preparation accordingly.