The Western Ghats also known as the Sahyadri mountains, is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea.These hills cover 60,000 km and form the catchment area for a complex of river systems that drain almost 40% of India. The average elevation is around 1,200 meters. The area has over 5000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats.