Goa is immensely famous among tourists’ both local as well as international. Its Beaches, seafood, laid back lifestyle, and easy availability of alcoholic drinks make it heaven for those who want to wildly revel. But this wild lifestyle aside, Goa is additionally home to some exotic wildlife. When we think of Goa, we mostly think of North Goa – the commercial party centre with all the most popular beaches. Compared to it, South Goa is relatively unknown to the tourist world and thus lacks commercialization. South Goa is thus more peaceful, clean and less crowded while still hosting some of the most beautiful beaches, temples, Waterfalls and wildlife hubs. One such wildlife hub is – the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary.
Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest sanctuary in Goa and probably the most bio-diverse. It has some of the finest yet relatively unexplored forests in the state. Home to nearly 200 species of birds, the birding here is from the foothills of the Western Ghats to its crest in Goa. The typical forest here is mixed deciduous to semi-evergreen with a good network of streams and tabletop grasslands.
The sanctuary offers a welcome break from sea beaches which Goa is famous for.
Direction To Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary
The Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is located at a distance of a mere 70 kilometres from Goa’s airport. Like most of the places in Goa, the best way to reach Netravali is on a hired two-wheeler if you don’t have a personal vehicle.
The beautiful Konkan vegetation, rice fields, and western Ghat hills greet your eyes on both sides of the road when you are on your way there but the internet might not be most reliable in these circumstances. We therefore recommend asking a local about the routes to be sure.
Best Time To Visit Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary
Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is best visited during monsoon season, that is, from late June to August; when vegetation is fresh and green, the air is pleasant and you have a chance to see the Savari waterfall within Netravali at it’s beautiful best.
You may visit it in winter too but we wouldn’t advise visiting it during summers (March to May)
Where to stay?
You can return to your hotel in North Goa in good time if that is where you intend to return. Otherwise, accommodation is available in forest rest houses run by the GTDC (Goa Tourism Development Corporation). The tourism department of Goa also takes care of food, thus making it an ideal place to spot creatures of the wild in their natural habitat.
The Sanctuary
As we visited the place during the monsoons, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary greeted us with a sense of natural vegetation – so dense that though the day was sunny, in some parts sunlight didn’t reach the ground… Well, you are also greeted by a check post where you have to pay the entry fees.
The sanctuary is best explored in two-wheelers and, as far as possible in groups as you might not come across any other humans unless it is a working day.
Flora and Fauna at Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary
This dense deciduous mixed with evergreen/ semi-evergreen natural vegetation is a common characteristic of all Western Ghats and the Konkan region in particular.
The Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over an area of 211 square kilometers and derives its name from Netravali (or Neturli) river – a tributary of River Zuari which originates here.
A wildlife enthusiast will find much to love in surrounding areas too – it has Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve of Karnataka on its eastern side; Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa on its southern side and Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park on its northern side. All of these along with Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa and Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka together form an incredible home to protected wildlife.
Among wildlife to be found here are included a tremendous diversity of mammals like – Gaur (Bos gaurus), Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica), four-horned antelope or chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis), leopard (Panthera pardus), black sloth bear etc which are sustained by abundant availability of drinking water in the region.
The region is also a home to several aviary life forms like the rare Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus), grey-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus priocephalus, Nilgiri wood pigeon (Columba elphinstonii), white-bellied blue flycatcher (Cyornis pallipes), great pied hornbill (Buceros bicornis) Wynaad laughingthrush (Garrulax delesserti), rufous babbler (Turdoides subrufa), white-bellied treepie (Dendrocitta leucogastra), etc.
During our visit there, we came across a leopard, a Gaur and hornbill; the highlight of the day were the beautiful butterflies we came across. We were unable to discern the names of the species of butterflies, but a Google search suggested names such as the Malabar banded swallowtail (Papilio liomedon), redspot duke (Dophla Evelina), Malabar banded peacock (Papilio buddha), southern birdwing (Troides minos), Malabar tree nymph (Idea malabarica), black rajah (Charaxes solon), blue nawab (Polyura Schreiber) etc.
We spent our whole day exploring this beautiful natural paradise and only made our return journey at 5 pm.
Conclusion
If you are on a long vacation in Goa, say a week or so you will probably look for a break from its mainstream attractions and a day in this cradle of nature is your best alternative. In its own right, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary has much beauty bestowed upon it by nature for one to miss it.
