<P> Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve is a protected area and tiger reserve along the Western Ghats in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . First declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 2008 and enlarged in 2011, it covers a forest area of 1,411.6 km (545.0 sq mi) and is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu . In 2013, it became the fourth tiger reserve as a part of Project Tiger in the state of Tamil Nadu . </P> <P> Sathyamangalam forest range is a significant wildlife corridor in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve between the Western Ghats and the rest of the Eastern Ghats and a genetic link between the four other protected areas which it adjoins, including the Billigiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, Sigur Plateau, Mudumalai National Park and Bandipur National Park . The sanctuary covers parts of Sathyamangalam taluk and Gobichettipalayam taluk of Erode District in north western Tamil Nadu . </P> <P> The Sathyamangalam forests were declared as a sanctuary with effect from 3 November 2008 by the Governor of Tamil Nadu as per the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972 . In 2008, the Government of Karnataka sent a proposal to declare the contiguous Billigiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve which was subsequently approved in 2010 . In a wildlife survey conducted by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2010, 46 tigers were sighted in the Sathyamangalam forest area . In July 2010, the Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh requested the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to consider the possibility of proposing the Sathyamangalam wildlife sanctuary as a Project Tiger tiger reserve as per the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 as the area is contiguous with the forests of Bandipur and Mudumalai tiger reserves . On 1 April 2010, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced that it would initiate action to declare the sanctuary as a tiger reserve because of the consistent sighting of tigers in the forest area and the tiger reserve declaration would strengthen wildlife conservation efforts, as the sanctuary managers will get more financial support from the central government and the Government of India may also provide support to appoint an additional anti-poaching watchers and fund the establishment of anti-poaching camps . </P> <P> On 10 March 2011, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests said that the proposal for according tiger reserve status for the Sathyamangalam Reserve Forests is under consideration . He said that studies using camera traps indicated there could be 19 to 25 tigers in Sathyamangalam forests . A 2011 camera trap tiger density study conducted by World Wildlife Fund indicated that the sanctuary is home to at least 25 tigers . In the same year, a DNA based project initiated by the state forest department collected 150 samples of pugmarks from Sathyamangalam forests and 69 of them were found positive for tigers by tests conducted at the Center for Molecular Biology in Hyderabad . The findings also indicated that the region is home to as many as 30 tigers . </P>

Good link between western ghats and eastern ghats