https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Rollapadu_Wildlife_SanctuaryRollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary - Revision history2026-11-04T10:06:09ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rollapadu_Wildlife_Sanctuary&diff=530811&oldid=prevPQRS1 at 06:23, 20 April 20262026-04-20T06:23:29Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Wildlife sanctuary in India}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox protected area<br />
| name = Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary<br />
| iucn_category = IV<br />
| image = Blackbucks Sparring.jpg<br />
| image_caption = Blackbucks sparring at Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary<br />
| map = India Andhra Pradesh#India<br />
| relief = 1<br />
| mapframe = Yes<br />
| mapframe-zoom = 10<br />
| location = Nandyal district, Andhra Pradesh, India<br />
| area = {{cvt|6.14|km2}}<br />
| established = 1988<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary''' is in [[Nandyal district]], [[Andhra Pradesh]] , [[India]]. It is primarily as a habitat of the [[great Indian bustard]], the species has suffered a drastic fall in its numbers in the sanctuary in recent years.<ref>{{cite news|title=Concern over dwindling number of Great Indian Bustard|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/Concern-over-dwindling-number-of-Great-Indian-Bustard/article14840158.ece|access-date=5 June 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=23 September 2007}}</ref><br />
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== Location ==<br />
The sanctuary, in the Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh, is close to the state's border with [[Karnataka]] and is {{Convert|40|km|abbr=on}} from the district headquarters of [[Nandyal]], {{Convert|172|km|abbr=on}} from [[Kadapa]], and {{Convert|152|km|abbr=on}} from [[Raichur]]. Covering an area of {{Convert|6.14|km2|abbr=on}}, it was established in 1988 to protect the [[great Indian bustard]] and the [[lesser florican]] and remains the only habitat in Andhra Pradesh for the bustard which is a [[critically endangered]] species.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary|url=http://forest.ap.nic.in/WL%20ROLLAPADU.htm|publisher=Department of Forests, Government of Andhra Pradesh|access-date=5 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029183716/http://forest.ap.nic.in/WL%20ROLLAPADU.htm|archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref><ref name="thehindu">{{cite news|title=Out of Africa|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/out-of-africa/article4770702.ece|access-date=5 June 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=1 June 2013}}</ref> The sanctuary is mostly an undulating plain with hot, dry climatic conditions and erratic and uneven rainfall. It has an average elevation of {{Convert|290|m}} and receives about {{Convert|450|mm|abbr=on}} of rainfall annually.<ref name="zoosprint">{{cite journal|last=Rao|first=K Thulsi|author2=SMM Javed |title=The Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis Nigriceps (Vigors) in and around the Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India|journal=Zoos' Print Journal|date=October 2005|volume=20|issue=11|pages=2053–2058|url=http://www.zoosprint.org/ZooPrintJournal/2005/November/2053-2058.pdf|access-date=5 June 2013|doi=10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.1326.2053-8|doi-access=free}}</ref><br />
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== Flora ==<br />
Rollapadu is primarily a [[Grassland|grassland ecosystem]] with [[mixed forests]] and thorny bushes. [[Cotton]], [[tobacco]] and [[sunflower]] are cultivated in the agricultural lands that border the sanctuary. Also plants communities like ''[[Ziziphus mauritiana]]'', ''[[Cassia fistula]]'', [[Acacia]], ''[[Butea monosperma]]'' etc. are very useful for birds nesting at Rollapadu.<ref name="thehindu" /><ref name="books.google">{{cite book|last=Negi|first=Sharad Singh|title=Biodiversity and Its Conservation in India|year=1993|publisher=Indus Publishing Company|location=Delhi|page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PjfVFGM4p6wC&q=rollapadu+wildlife+sanctuary&pg=PA194|isbn=8185182884}}</ref><br />
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== Fauna ==<br />
Rollapadu sanctuary is home to a varied set of faunal and avifaunal species. [[Foxes]], [[Indian jackal|jackals]], [[bonnet macaque]]s, [[jungle cats]], [[sloth bears]] and [[black buck]]s have been reported at the sanctuary as also the [[Russell's viper]] and [[Indian cobra]]. It also houses 132 bird species with the Alganur reservoir near the sanctuary frequented annually by [[Migratory birds|migratory species]]. Some of the bird species spotted at Rollapadu besides the bustard and the florican include [[Indian roller]]s, several [[myna]] species, [[short-toed snake eagle]]s and winter migrant waterfowl such as [[bar-headed goose|bar-headed geese]], [[demoiselle crane]]s and [[greater flamingo]]s.<ref name="thehindu" /><ref name="books.google" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Birding in RollapaduWildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh|url=http://www.indianwildlifeclub.com/UserContent/Trip-Report-Details.aspx?rid=600|publisher=Indian Wildlife Club|access-date=5 June 2013}}</ref><br />
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[[File:Indian Courser, Rollapadu.jpg|thumb|Indian coursers are found around the Rollapadu WLS during the monsoon seasons.]]<br />
An increase in the blackbuck population at the sanctuary has been postulated as one of the reasons for the fall in numbers of the bustard and the florican there. Their feeding on the grasses has in turn led to a fall in the numbers of [[grasshopper]]s and [[locusts]] that constitute an important source of food for the two bird species besides also reducing the nesting area available to these ground nesting birds.<ref name="indianbirds">{{cite journal|last=Mathew|first=Rajeev M|title=The plight of Rollapadu Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh|journal=Indian Birds|date=July–August 2007|volume=3|issue=4|pages=153–154|url=http://www.indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB.3.4.153-154.pdf|access-date=5 June 2013}}</ref><br />
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== Threats ==<br />
Established as an ideal site for the protection of the [[bustard]] in the 1980s, conservation efforts at Rollapadu have suffered severe setbacks in recent years with the bustard population falling in recent years. The sanctuary houses nearly 800 blackbucks which often raid the farmlands beyond the sanctuary's borders and this has led to public anger against the sanctuary. Grazing of cattle within the sanctuary's precincts has also affected the breeding of the bustards.<ref name="zoosprint" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Saberwal|first=Vasant K|title=Battles Over Nature: Science and the Politics of Conservation|year=2003|publisher=Permanent Black|location=Delhi|page=123|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPDkfki-6cEC&q=rollapadu+wildlife+sanctuary&pg=PA123|isbn=8178241412}}</ref> Changes in the ecosystem due to the linking of the Alganur tank with the [[Telugu Ganga]] Canal and the consequent rise in [[ground water]] levels in this [[Semiarid region|semi-arid region]] have led to changes in flora as well as in the nature of agriculture practiced around the sanctuary's periphery. [[Harrier (bird)|Harriers]] have been found dead presumably due to the effect of [[biomagnification]]. [[Fox|Foxes]], the [[Lesser florican]] and [[Calandrella brachydactyla|Greater short-toed lark]]s have not been spotted at the sanctuary in recent years.<ref name="indianbirds" /><br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
{{commons category|Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary}}<br />
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{{Wildlife sanctuaries of Andhra Pradesh}}{{Protected areas of Andhra Pradesh}}<br />
[[Category:Wildlife sanctuaries in Andhra Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:Nandyal district]]<br />
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1988]]<br />
[[Category:1988 establishments in Andhra Pradesh]]</div>PQRS1