Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary :
Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary at the junction of Ponda, Sanguem and Sattari talukas. Bondla’s still forested area hosts a variety of plant, animal and bird life. As forest goes, Bondla also has manicured lawns and botanical gardens. It has a nature Education centre and a mini zoo. Here you will find crocodiles sunning themselves on rocks, bison, porcupines, leopards, jackals, even a sloth bear and lots of snakes in cages. Bondla provides elephant rides for a fee twice a day. Bird watchers will be delighted with the yellow bulbul, kingfishers and other birds.
Dlx. Houseboat/hotel for overnight stay.
Canacona’s Cotigao Sanctuary :
The Talpona River meanders through the Cotigao Sanctuary in Canacona taluka. The Galjibaga River forms the eastern boundary of Cotigao. This sanctuary is forested but there are quite a number of human dwellings in and around the sanctuary. You will find a lot of wild boar here living in close proximity to wild cat, pangolins, black panthers, deer, leopards, bison and langur. The sanctuary has a watch tower where in the evening or early morning, you can watch the animals come to the watering hole to drink.
Mollem Sanctuary :
Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary is in Sanguem Taluka with the Mollem National park at the centre of the sanctuary. Mollem has thick forests ranging from evergreen to deciduous. Here too the animal species stretch to monkeys, langur, bison, deer, porcupines, sloth bear, wild cats, flying lizards, snakes and birds.
Netraveli and Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuaries :
Netravali is located in Eastern Goa. It is connected to The Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. Together the two parks have a total area of 420 square km of which Netravali is 211 sq km. One can find many animals here including the Black Panther, the Great Pied Hornbill, the slender Loris, the King cobra and giant squirrels. Not only the wildlife, but the variety of forest in Netravali deserves tourist appreciation. Netravali has a moist-deciduous forest interspersed with semi-evergreen and evergreen forests.
Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary Chorao :
This is Goa’s only bird sanctuary, 1.8 sq km within walking distance from the ferry wharf at Chorao. A variety of local and migratory birds can be found on this island. On the western tip of the island of Chorao along River Mandovi, thick mangroves shelter a rich ecosystem that hosts a rich variety of birds, flying foxes, jackals and crocodiles.
Mangroves provide refuge and breeding grounds for several varieties of fish and insects which occupy the bottom of the food-chain. This Sanctuary is criss-crossed with a network of water channels, and one can explore the sanctuary in boats during high tide. If you catch a ride with a canoe owner the creeks can be explored even during low tide.A watch-tower has been erected in the Sanctuary for birdwatching. Apart from the several resident birds, the sanctuary also has some winter visitors like coots and pintails. The sanctuary is home to around 400 species of birds, both local and migratory. |
