Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary's area is and is a part of the Western Ghats (Sahyadri Ranges). It includes 9 tribal villages. The area's bio-diversity has been retained as it will be preserved as a cluster of sacred groves for generations. These sacred groves act as gene pools of this area, from where seeds were dispersed. In Ahupe - a tribal (Mahadev Koli) village's sacred grove in the sanctuary, in 1984, a climber Khombhal - Xantolis tomentosa was found to be 800-1000 years old.