What is in news : Conservationists want Karnataka government to appoint full-time RFO at Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary

Issues :

• Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Is in Khanapur Taluk of Belagavi District,
  • Has not had a full time Range Forest Officer (RFO) for the last three months. Presently, the charge of Bhimgad Wildlife Range has been given to the RFO of adjoining Kanakumbi Territorial Range.
• Kanakumbi is situated at a distance of 55 km from Hemmadaga which is the headquarters of Bhimgad Wildlife Range. Kanakumbi Territorial Range itself is spread over 16,000 hectare and shares an interstate border with Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra and hence, handling another range is definitely a challenging task for a single RFO

About Bhimgad Wildlife sanctuary

• Spread across 19,000 hectares
• Houses major flora and fauna.
• Animals found include tiger, leopard, dhole (wild dog), sloth bear, gaur, sambar, chital, muntjac, mouse deer, great Indian hornbill, king cobra
• Most importantly the critically endangered Wroughton’s free tailed bat.
• Connected with Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa and Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka.
• As per the All India Tiger Estimation carried out in the year 2018, there are five unique tigers in Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary.