The Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area located in the Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Ramanagar districts of Karnataka, India.

The sanctuary, established on 14 January 1987 under Section 18 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1973, is spread over an area of 1,027.53 square kilometres (396.73 sq mi)[3] It lies in an elevation range of 125–1,514 metres (410–4,967 ft) ("Ponnachi Betta" is the highest mountain in the centre of the sanctuary[4]) with its northern and southern boundary delimited by the Cauvery River on the Eastern Ghats, which drains from west to east.

[4] Important places along the river stretch flowing through the sanctuary covering its forested central and eastern parts are the Hogenakal Falls (meaning: "smoking rock" in Kannada language), Mekedatu (meaning: "goats leap"), and Sangam (confluence with the Arkavathi River.

Along the boundary of the sanctuary, a trench is excavated to prevent elephant migration to neighbouring villages and to check damage to agricultural lands.

[5] The dominant species of trees found in this sanctuary are Terminalia arjuna and jambul (Syzygium cumini).

[4][5][8] It is home to mammals like the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris),[9] Indian elephant (Elephas maximus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), Indian leopard (Panthera pardus),Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), dhole, spotted deer (Axis axis), barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), sambar (Cervus unicolor), four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis), black-naped hare (Lepus nigricollis), chevrotain, common langur, bonnet macaque, honey badger (ratel)[5][10] malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica maxima), grizzled giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura) which is under the highly endangered category in the state of Karnataka (but under IUCN Red List as near threatened[11]), smooth-coated otter (Lutra lutra)[4][5][12][13] The smooth-coated otter sites in the sanctuary's river reach were specifically studied.

[6] The river Cauvery is also habitat for various species of reptiles like the mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), Indian mud turtles (Chelonia sp.).

This is also one of the few places to find the IUCN Red List Critically Endangered [1] hump-backed mahseer (Tor remadevii [14]) fish.

It was also, previously, part of the distribution of the Critically Endangered [2] Nilgiri Mystus (Hemibagrus punctatus), known locally as haddu.

Some notable resident species here include brown boobook (Ninox scutulata), white-bellied blue-flycatcher (Cyornis pallipes), stork-billed kingfisher (Pelagorpsis capensis), green imperial-pigeon (Ducula aenea) and Indian scops-owl (Otus bakkamoena).

These low level threats are related to farming and fishing activities, use of forest resources in the form of logging, tree harvesting, extraction of minor forest produce, least degree of recreational disturbance from human activities and low level of natural changes in the form of water harvesting structures.