Karikili Bird Sanctuary

Panoramic view of karikili Bird Sanctuary
Spoon bill
Lesser whistling duck
Spot billed pelican

Karikili Bird Sanctuary

  • Country: 
    India
  • Site number: 
    2480
  • Area: 
    58.4 ha
  • Designation date: 
    08-04-2022
  • Coordinates: 
    12°35'N 79°50'E
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

The Karikili Bird Sanctuary comprises two rain-fed non-perennial irrigation tanks spreading over an area of more than 58 hectares. The Site is flat or gently undulating and lies near low ridged, rocky hillocks. Rainfall varies greatly from year to year, from 400 mm to almost 1,700 mm, flooding the Site in the monsoon months from July to September. The vegetation is mainly composed of Barringtonia acutangula and Acacia nilotica trees, raised as plantations by the Forest Department. Surrounding vegetation is composed of scrub and thorn. The Site provides habitat for a variety of resident and migratory birds, most of them waterbirds, as well as a few species of scavengers. The near-threatened oriental darter (Anhinga melanogaster) and spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) breed here. The wetland also supports several mammal, reptile and amphibian species such as the jungle cat, bonnet macaque, jackal, python, sand boa and frogs. The Karikili Bird Sanctuary has a history of people cooperating in protecting waterbirds, as their guano enables the supply of nutrient-enriched water to crop fields. The Site was declared a Birds Sanctuary in 1972 and a management plan is currently being implemented to safeguard the biodiversity of the Site as well as the ecosystem services provided to the local communities.

Administrative region: 
Partly Maduranthagam Taluk, Chengalpattu District & partly Kancheepuram District

  • National legal designation: 
    • Karikili was declared as Bird Sanctuary with following amendments; intention of the State Government to constitute any area under section 18(1) &the final notification under section 26A (1) i.e., “Declaration of area as sanctuary” - Karikili Bird Sanctuary
  • Last publication date: 
    25-07-2022

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Additional reports and documents