Ranibennur Blackbuck Sanctuary

Ranebennur Blackbuck Sanctuary
Location Map
LocationRanebennur, Karnataka, India
Coordinates14°38′N 75°42′E / 14.633°N 75.700°E / 14.633; 75.700
Area119 km2
Established1974

Ranebennur Blackbuck Sanctuary (119 km2) was declared as a sanctuary mainly to protect blackbucks. It comprises two unconnected portions, an eastern and a western bit. The sanctuary has a core zone of 14.87 km2 and a buffer-cum tourism zone of 104.13 km2. The area is covered mainly by scrub forest and Eucalyptus plantations. Agricultural fields surround the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is also inhabited by the highly endangered great Indian bustard and the wolf. However, the great Indian bustard has not been sighted in the sanctuary since around 2002 and may be locally extinct. Blackbuck are plentiful with a count of more than 6000 in the 2005 census. The blackbuck can be sighted between October and March, while the bustard is sighted from February to June.