• The first status survey of the ‘fauna’ in the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary (KWL), one of the rarest eco-regions in the world, has been commenced.

About the sanctuary:

• The area in an extent of 194.8 sq. km was declared as wildlife sanctuary in 1998 and since then no survey on the fauna had been carried out.
• The sanctuary is sandwiched between the Bay of Bengal and the Krishna river and geographically falls in Krishna and Guntur districts in.

The Need:

• It is the need of the hour to have an authentic data on the presence of the wildlife to prepare conservation strategies. The six-month status survey is being carried out by installing camera traps in the most strategic 20 wildlife grids.
• The credit for the rise of the fishing cat population goes to the conservation of the mangrove cover. The cover, the habitat of the fishing cat, has been increasing since the early 2000s due to afforestation measures.
• The India State of Forest Report-2015 shows that there has been a net increase of 17 sq. km. of mangrove forest cover in Krishna district since 2013.