186 species spotted during bird survey in Tansa Sanctuary

he first-ever bird survey in Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary was conducted this weekend and the volunteers recorded 186 species of birds. The survey coincided with the 53rd anniversary of the sanctuary located in Shahapur tehsil of Thane district on Sunday

Mumbai: The first-ever bird survey in Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary was conducted this weekend and the volunteers recorded 186 species of birds.

186 species spotted during bird survey in Tansa Sanctuary

The survey coincided with the 53rd anniversary of the sanctuary located in Shahapur tehsil of Thane district on Sunday.

The sanctuary also has two lakes—Tansa and Modak Sagar—that supply water to Mumbai. While the sanctuary is spread over 338 sq km, the Tansa lake is spread over 19 sq km.

Ramesh Rasal, forest officer, Tansa range, said, “The survey received a good response. Our volunteers also spotted forest owlets in Pendhari and Quarry pada area. Tansa is known for its forest owlet.”

Rohidas Dagle of the Owl Foundation, one of the NGOs that participated in the survey, said, “We have spotted a total of 186 species of birds in the last three days. Volunteers have come from Mumbai, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu. The 34 volunteers went into 17 pairs on various routes in the mornings and evenings.”

Rasal added that they have also started getting news about the presence of leopards.

Meanwhile, the sanctuary is facing a problem of tribals usurping forest land for farming. In the early 1990s, the sanctuary had two tigers and 15 leopards. The tigers disappeared and the number of leopards dwindled.