The Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) observed that declaring Kolamarka as "sanctuary" is important for the survival of original "wild breed of wild buffaloes."
"After discussions, the Committee decided to recommend to the state government to consider declaring Kolamarka as a Wildlife Sanctuary," says an official document.
NBWL Standing Committee member Prerna Singh Bindra said central Indian population of wild buffaloes is believed to be the last remaining population of pure wild strain.
"Those in the northeast are believed to have interbred with domestic buffaloes. Kolamarka represents one of the only hopes for this critically endangered species whose exact wild population is unknown but is critically low," she told PTI.
Kolamarka is crucial for the survival of this species and its importance cannot be stressed enough, Bindra said.
Kolamarka is part of a compact wild buffalo habitat that stretches from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, through Indravati Tiger Reserve in in Chhattisgarh and onwards to Sitanadi -Udanti tiger reserves in the north and adjoining Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary in Orissa.
The standing committee, which met recently, also considered a report submitted by its members Ranjitsinh and Kishor Rithe, which said that Kolamarka is the "only refuge for the purest wild breed of wild buffalo and, therefore, needed to be protected by declaring the same as a sanctuary."