Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary

Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary
Location in Sikkim, India
Location	East Sikkim District, Sikkim
Nearest city	Rangpo
Coordinates	27°20′N 88°46′E
Area	124 square km
Established	1999
Governing body	Government of India, Government of Sikkim

Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary (Pron: pǽngólɑ́kha, Nepali: पाङ्लखा) is a wildlife reserve in the East Sikkim district of the state of Sikkim in India. It is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Rangpo and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) by road from Rangpo city. The total notified area of the park is around 124 square kilometres (48 sq mi) while inside the wildlife sanctuary there are a few hamlets: Aritar, Lingtam, Phadamchen, Zuluk, Gnathang valley and Kupup. This wildlife sanctuary is linked to the forests of Bhutan and Neora Valley National Park of West Bengal. The area that comes under this biosphere has been declared in the year of 1999 as an wildlife sanctuary under biogeographic province category 2C.

Geography

Altitudinal range of the sanctuary lies between 1760 metres to 4390 meters. Pangolakha range in the east separates Sikkim from its eastern neighboring country Bhutan. Whereas it is linked through forest patches with to the south by Neora Valley National Park of West Bengal. Some high altitude lakes are present there, which acts as a biodiversity hotspot for migratory birds, like Tsongmo. Rivers and riverine tributaries from north are frozen from December to March; whereas all these riverine tributaries and rivers flow with enormous volume of water during Rainy season(i.e. from Mid April to Mid October).

Biodiversity

This wildlife sanctuary supports a large variety of animals, since it falls at the junction of Palearctic ecozone and Indomalaya ecozone. As a Biogeographic Province, this wildlife sanctuary comes under 2C category.

Natural history

Biomes

Inside this wildlife sanctuary, the primary biomes corresponding to the ecozone are:

• Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome
• Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests of the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests biome
• Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests of the Himalayan subtropical pine forests biome
• Temperate coniferous forests of the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests biome
• Montane grasslands and shrublands of the Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows biome

All of these are typical of the Bhutan - Nepal - India hilly region.

Fauna

Birds at Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary include kalij pheasant, Oriental honey buzzard, blood pheasant, white-crested laughingthrush, striated laughingthrush, chestnut-crowned laughingthrush, bar-throated minla, red-tailed minla, white-browed shrike babbler, white-browed fulvetta, rufous sibia, whiskered yuhina, stripe-throated yuhina, rufous-vented yuhina, brown dipper, rusty-flanked treecreeper, dark-rumped rosefinch, little bunting, etc. It is also home for some rarities like the speckled wood pigeon and bay woodpecker.

• 
  Blue-fronted redstart (Phoenicurus frontalis)
• 
  White-crested laughingthrush (Garrulax leucolophus)
• 
  White-capped redstart (Chaimarrornis leucocephalus)

Mammals some of the exotic species from North-East India are present in this wildlife sanctuary. The red panda, the state mammal of Sikkim and one of the most elusive creature from northern forests lives here. Asiatic black bear, yellow-throated marten, takin and red fox are also present in this wildlife sanctuary. Some very commonly seen mammals in this sanctuary are the Himalayan striped squirrel and hoary bellied squirrel of Callosciurus genus.

Diverse ecology of Pangolakha WLS; it starts at 1,300 meters and goes up to 4,000 meters. Here one can see Dwarf Junipers, Abies, Rhododendron shrubs, Pine etc.

The State Forest Department has set up Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) around all wildlife protected areas. In this IBA an EDC has been set up in the villages of Mankhim, Dalepchand, Lingtam, Phadamchen, Zuluk and Gnathang.

External links

• http://sikkimforest.gov.in/