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Wild Life Sanctuary |
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The
Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Sirmour District in Himachal
Pradesh. The nearest town from the sanctuary Dadahu is about 2 kms. From Renuka. The
Sanctuary is well connected by the network of roads. The total
area of the sanctuary is 402.80
hectare. The entire Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary is comprised
of only Renuka Reserve Forest and has
been declared as |
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“Abhayaranya” with no rights recognized in
this area. Moreover, an area of 300 hectare that lies
outside the sanctuary but is contiguous with its boundary has been declared as a
buffer belt.
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The
Area is commonly recognized by its religious and
cultural value. Renuka is an abode of temples of mother and son duo of
Renukaji and Lord Parshuram. Mythology has it that Renukaji, an incarnation of
Goddess Durga, was the wife of Rishi Yamdagini. Parshuram believed to be the sixth
incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was the youngest of the five sons of the couple. Once to obey
the order of his father, parshuram had to serve, the head of his mother. After
killing his mother, however, he begged his father to
perjure life
in his mother, for which the Rishi agreed. Renukaji was extremely beautiful. Sahastarvahu,
the emperor wanted to marry her and once when Parshuram was away, he killed Rishi
Yamdagini and his four sons to marry |
Renukaji.
To escape the clutches of the emperor and unable to bear the grief of
the death of her husband and four sons, Renukaji jumped into small pond known
by the name of the Ramsarover at that time, and disappeared into it. Ever since the lake
is worshiped as Renukaji Lake |
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The area of the
Sanctuary falls in the bio-geographical zone IV and bio-geographical
province IV as per the classification done by the Wildlife Institute of
India (WII). According to forest types classification by
Champion and Seth, Renuka forest fall under group 5B/C2 i.e. dry mixed deciduous
forest and group 5/051 i.e. dry Sal forest. The area forms northern limit of
natural Sal forest forest which itself is limited to |
| Badaun Dhar. The
forest of the area mixed crop of Anogeissus, Lucinea, Terminalia,
Khair, Shisham, Carrie, Cordia and a variety of climbers in moist depressions. |
The fauna of
the area including the birds are Lepopard, Samber, Spotted Deer, Barking deer
Jackal, Hare, Jungle cat, Plam Civet, Porcupine, Blue jay, Black
Partridge, Drongos, Hill Crow, Scarlet Minivet,
Bulbul, Common Cooots, Greenm Pigeons. |
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Renukaji Mini Zoo is the oldest Zoo in Himachal Pradesh, Which was initially started
during 1957 with rescued, stray and deserted wild animals from the forests. The first
animal brought to the Zoo was a male spotted deer named Moti. The visit of Lt. Governor
Hon’ble Raja Rajram Bahadur of Bhadari during this time saw the arranging of female
chital for Moti. This laid the real foundation of Renuka Zoo. By and by more wild animals
like Sambhar, Chinkara, Hogdeer, Black Buck etc. were introduced in the Zoo. All these
animals started breeding and multiplying. To accommodate the increasing number of animals,
idea of an open park was conceived and the open park was setup in 1983.Black Buck and
Nilgai were brought from Pipli Zoo. A pair of Mithun, gifted to the Chief Minister by Sh.
Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, in 1985, was brought from Arunachal Pradesh and
another was brought from Nagaland during 1986.A pair of Lions was brought to Renuka Zoo
from Zunagarh during 1975.The Lion was named Raja and the Lioness named
Rani. Simultaneously an aviary was also setup during 1998-99.The area does not have any
recorded rights except the right to worship in the Renuka
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To curb the incidence of illicit lopping and grazing, the staff has been
strengthened from two Forest Guards for the entire Sanctuary to two beat guards under the
charge of one Range Officer who is assisted by one Dy. Ranger. The periphery of the sanctuary is fenced by
inter-linked chain fence to restrict the illegal entry of villagers from surrounding
villages to the Sanctuary area. At present
the Lion Safari, Zoo, Aviary and Sanctuary is being managed as Renukaji Wildlife Range
Renuka under the administrative control of Shimla Wildlife Division |
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The best place to stay near the lake is Hotel 'Renuka' run by the tourism department. In addition to this,
an inspection hut of the forest department is also available. A rest house run by State
Electricity Board is situated about 2Km. away from Renuka lake at ' Dadahu'. |
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