<mapframe width="400" height="400" text="Wildlife sanctuaries in India">
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A [Wildlife Sanctuary](https://bliptext.com/articles/nature-reserve) is a [protected area](https://bliptext.com/articles/protected-area) of importance for [flora](https://bliptext.com/articles/flora), [fauna](https://bliptext.com/articles/fauna), or features of [geological](https://bliptext.com/articles/geological) or other interest, which is reserved and managed for [conservation](https://bliptext.com/articles/conservation-ethic) and to provide opportunities for study or [research](https://bliptext.com/articles/research).
The [Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972](https://bliptext.com/articles/wild-life-protection-act-1972) provides for the establishment of Protected Areas in India.
Wildlife sanctuaries of India, are classified as [IUCN Category IV protected areas](https://bliptext.com/articles/iucn-protected-area-categories).
567 wildlife sanctuaries have been established, covering 122,564.86 km2.
Among these, [Project Tiger](https://bliptext.com/articles/project-tiger) governs 53 tiger reserves, which are of special significance for the conservation of the [Bengal tiger](https://bliptext.com/articles/bengal-tiger).
Additionally, there are 33 Elephant Reserves covering 80778 km2 under the [Project Elephant](https://bliptext.com/articles/project-elephant), which may overlap with the wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves.
Established in 1936, [Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary](https://bliptext.com/articles/vedanthangal-bird-sanctuary) in [Tamil Nadu](https://bliptext.com/articles/tamil-nadu) was the first bird sanctuary and the [Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary](https://bliptext.com/articles/mudumalai-national-park) was established later in 1940.
Spanning 7506.22 km2, [Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kutch-desert-wildlife-sanctuary) in [Gujarat](https://bliptext.com/articles/gujarat) is the largest wildlife sanctuary in the country.
[Andaman and Nicobar Islands](https://bliptext.com/articles/andaman-and-nicobar-islands) has the most number of wildlife sanctuaries (97).
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