The sanctuary harbours a great diversity of wildlife habitats, with a vast plateau, multiple valleys, gorges and magnificent waterfalls.

Typical central Indian wild mammals such as tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (P. pardus), Indian Gaur (Bos gaurus), sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), wild boar (Sus scrofa) and blue bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus) are found, although depleted by poaching.

With the efforts of Chhattisgarh government, there is some chance that we could get back wild buffaloes in forests of Indravati and Sitanadi-Udanti but situation continues to be precarious.

Due to scarcity of prey, cattle kills will go up in coming days and subsequently complete eradication of the big cats.

Except for the two Gyps vultures, which are now included in the critically endangered category by BirdLife International (2001) due to their steep decline during the last 10 years, none of the other species is threatened with extinction.

Some species have deviated so far from their earlier distribution that they may not be useful in identifying IBAs for the protection of this biome (BirdLife International, undated).

We also have recorded a plethora of species that supports the fact that Sunabeda forests are an abode to a wide range of avifauna diversity.

Based on historical records, the search for Chestnut bellied Sandgrouse and Indian Courser continues which are no more found in Odisha Sunabeda has received 'in-principle-approval' of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, proposals for its notification as per NTCA-guidelines is under preparation.

The proposed tiger reserve extends over 956.17 km2 (longitude - 82°20'0" to 82°34'48" east and latitude 20°06'0" to 20°44'0" north), in Nuapada district bordering the state of Chhattisgarh to the west of Odisha, and encompasses the Sunabeda Sanctuary (591.75 km2) and the Patdhara forest block to its south (364.42 km2).

Local volunteers from villages like Cherchuan, Jamgaon, Sunabeda, Kholibhitar have joined hands to protect the forests.

Sunabeda assumes even more importance when one considers that it is contiguous with the Udanti and Sitanadi forests in Chhattisgarh state to the west.

At present, they are found in Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary in Chhattisgarh, about 20 km away but there is a Patdhara Reserve Forest corridor.

The core area of Sunabeda could be increased southwards across the Indra nullah (stream), to add 30,000 ha of forest without human habitation (Kotwal 1997).

Following are the recommendations by NGO, The Corridor Foundation made to NTCA and State Government based on detailed study in the area between 2018 and 2020.