Spatiotemporal distribution and habitat preferences of herpetofauna in Ghodazari Wildlife Sanctuary (GWS), District Chandrapur, Maharashtra

The Ghodazari Wildlife Sanctuary (GWS), situated in the Chandrapur District of Maharashtra's eastern Vidarbha area, is home to a diverse but little recorded herpetofauna. In addition to creating a thorough checklist of the herpetofaunal richness in the sanctuary, this work is the first systematic attempt to record the spatiotemporal distribution and habitat preferences of amphibians and reptiles inside this protected setting. To record changes in species occurrence and activity patterns over time and place, field surveys were carried out in a variety of GWS microhabitats, such as grasslands, rocky outcrops, water bodies, forest floor litter, and human-modified borders. The amphibian diversity was composed of 5 families and 15 species. Microhylidae and Dicroglossidae were the most diverse families with 6 species each, followed by Bufonidae (1), Ranidae (1) and Rhacophoridae (1). In most environments, Monsoon has the highest species occurrence. The diversity of reptiles included 16 groups and 37 species. Colubridae has the highest richness (8 species) followed by Natricidae (4), Geckonidae (4) and Agamidae (3). Sibynophiidae showed the lowest richness (1 species). In general, the diversity of habitats was greatest during the monsoon. In order to provide a conservation-focused framework species is further described in terms of its IUCN Red List category, and legislative protection status under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (IWPA). The purpose of this baseline data is to provide guidance for habitat management strategies, conservation planning, and long-term herpetofaunal monitoring in Ghodazari Wildlife Sanctuary and similar landscapes in the area.