Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary

There are many species of animals like reptiles, mammals, and insects found here. More than 240 various bird species live here including Spoonbill, Peafowl, and Crane. In sanctuary areas, there are also many ancient temples, caves, lakes, and waterfalls which are attracted by tourists. The wildlife is well protected by the Maharashtra government, announced this place as a sanctuary established in 1986. ==Ecology==

The area has southern tropical dry deciduous forest with interspersed bush and grasslands.This topography supports wide variety of flora and fauna. Fauna The wildlife include wide variety of animals. They are chinkara (Gazella bennettii), nilgai (antelope) (Boselaphus tragocamelus), sloth bears (Melursus ursinus), jungle cat (Felis chaus), brown palm civet (Paradoxurus jerdoni), muntjac (barking deer) (Muntiacus muntjak), hare (Lepus nigricollis), leopard, fox, jackal, bats, wild boar, gray langur (Semnopithecus entellus), and wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). among them are cranes, spoonbills, storks, ibis, pochards, peafowl, quail, partridges, and various species of wading birds. Snakes include the cobra (Naja naja), common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), and rat snake (Ptyas mucosus). Flora The hill tops in the sanctuary are grass lands where as most of the forest trees occur on the slopes.Trees include teak (Tectona grandis), anjan (Hardwickia binata), oil cake tree (Albizia amara), sandalwood (Santalum album), bel (Aegle marmelos), awla (Phyllanthus emblica), bhallatak (Semecarpus anacardium), and moha (Madhuca longifolia). ==How to reach==

The sanctuary is well connected by road. It is about 75 km from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) and 40 km from Chalisgaon city. The nearest rail head is Chalisgaon and airport is at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) also nearby towns Kannad City from where 2 to 3 Bus are available from Kannad in a day. ==Features==

• Pitalkhora caves, rock-cut, Buddhist caves, from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE • Patnadevi Temple • Mahadeva Temple • Sita Khori a waterfall ==Notes==