Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve Ecology, Shivamogga

The Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary (1,024 sq km) in Shivamogga district is part of India's Project Tiger network and contains some of Karnataka's finest moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forest. The Bhadra reservoir at the heart of the sanctuary creates a mosaic of water bodies and forest that supports exceptional biodiversity — over 200 bird species, gaur, sambar, sloth bear, and a growing tiger population. The Soliga and Jenu Kuruba tribal communities traditionally lived within the sanctuary and possess remarkable ecological knowledge of the forest's seasonal patterns. Eco-development committees in buffer zone villages have created community-managed wildlife watch programmes that provide forest-adjacent households with nature tourism livelihoods.