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Khangchendzonga National Park
(North
Sikkim)
Best Season to Visit : March - May and September -
November.
Area : 1784 sq km
This park is the home to
Snow leopard ,
Clouded leopard,
Himalayan Black Bear,
Red Panda,
Blue Sheep,
Serow,
Himalayan Tahr,
Goral ,
Musk Deer,
Barking Deer,
Impeyan Pheasant,
Satyr Tragopan,
Blood Pheasant,
Osprey,
Lammergeier, Sunbirds etc.
Mount Khangchendzonga
(8585 m),Mount Narsing (5825 m), Mount Simvo (6811 m) and Mount Siniolchu
(6888 m) enhance the scenery. One of the abiding charms of
Sikkim for the nature lover, is the constantly changing character
of plant and animal life. Each of the altitudinal zones of
vegetation harbours characteristic fauna of its own. Sikkim, which
is less than 8000 sq. km. In area has over 550 species and
subspecies of birds, nearly 30% of the entire bird fauna of India,
Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka together. The wealth and
variety of butterflies and flowerings plants found here is perhaps
unequalled in the world...More
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Fambong Lho Wildlife Sanctuary (North
Sikkim)
Best Season to Visit : March to late May and September to
mid- December.
Area : 51.76 sq km
Distance : 20 km( from Gangtok )
Altitude : 1280 - 2652 m
Note : Entry to Sanctuary is permitted by the Chief
Wildlife Warden, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok .
This is located about 20 kilometers from Gangtok and covers an area of about 5,200 hectares above the road
between Singtam and Dikchu with the highest point at a place
called Tinjure at 7,000 ft. where a wooden observation tower of
the Forest Department exists. The Sanctuary is the home of
Himalayan Black Bear, Red Panda, Civet cat and many varieties of
birds and butterflies. The Binturong or Bear-Cat (Arctictis
binturong) is a rare civet reported from here.
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Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary (South
Sikkim)
Best Season to Visit : March - May and September -
November.
Area : 36.34 sq km
Distance :
Altitude : 10,600 ft
It is located in South Sikkim above the town of
Rabongla and covers an area of about 3,500 hectares with its
highest point being at Maenam. It shelters
Red Panda,
Goral,
Serow,
Barking Deer,
Marbled-Cat,
Leopard-Cat,
Civet-Cats,
Blood Pheasant,
Common Hill Partridge, Magpies, Black Eagle, Blue
necked Pitta,
Sunbirds and many other animals of the temperate forest.
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Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary (North
Sikkim)
Best Season to Visit : March - May and October - December.
Area : 43 sq km
Distance : 137 km (from Gangtok)
It is located near Yumthang in North
Sikkim and contains a vast variety of rhododendrons. The
sanctuary is bounded on its southern periphery by the Yakchey La
and on the northern periphery by the Yumthang Valley known for its
alpine meadow and hot springs.
It is hemmed in on the east by the high rugged
Chuba-Sagochen mountain ranges and on the west by part of
Chomzomei Tso extending upto Lava pass. The picturesque Yumthang
Chhu (river) flows through the sanctuary, which is known for its
unique abundance of Rhododendron trees and shrubs, 40
species/varieties of which are recorded from Sikkim alone. When in
blossom the rhododendrons provide a riot of colour to this small
park.
The fauna here consists of the
Serow,
Goral,
Blood Pheasant ,
Common Hill Partridge etc. also found here. The beautiful and
highly endangered Spotted Linsang or Tiger-Civet (Prionodon
pardicolor) has been reported from here.
The rare and
endemic
Rhododendron nevium,
the State Tree occurs only in this
sanctuary which is also rich in ground flora such as primulas,
potentillas, gentians, saxifrages, poppies and aconites. Brown
Trout were introduced into Yumthang Chhu at Phunyi in 1978 and
have been flourishing since. Lachung is the last frontier village
before reaching the sanctuary. There is a Forest Rest House here,
as well as one at Yumthang.
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Kyongnosia Alpine Sanctuary
(East Sikkim)
Best Season to Visit : April - August and October -
November.
Area : 31 sq km
Distance : 26 km from Gangtok
Altitude : 3350 m
It is situated around the area adjoining the
Tsomgo (Changu) lake
along the Nathula Road. Sanctuary
abounds in alpine flowers like Poppies,
Primulas and
Rhododendron.
Musk Deer,
Serow,
Himalayan Black Bear,
Red Panda, Lesser Cats,
Blood Pheasant,
Satyr Tragopan,
Impeyan Pheasant are some of the species found. This
floristic sanctuary has a breath-taking variety of flowers between
May and August.
The earliest to flower are the different species of Rhododendron,
though they each have slightly varied timings of peak flowering.
In the open areas, you can see a flowering succession of variously
coloured primulas, blue poppies, and Clematis in June; purple
irises, pale yellow poppies (Meronopsis paniculata) and
Friti1laria together with the little local strawberry Fragaria
dotting the ground in July. The season ends in August in a blaze
of golden senecios and bright purplish-pink Pedicularis
siphonantha. The last to flower is Polygonum which covers the
landscape, after which the area awaits its first snowfall.
Many rare and highly endangered plants, some of
great medicinal value are found here such as Podophyllum emodii,
Aconitum spp. and Nardostachys grandiflora. The orchid Cypripedium
elegans in particular is endemic to this area. Some solemn,
majestic silver firs, Abies densa, stand sentinel over the area
towering above the thickets of rhododendron and fields of tiny
flowering plants. There are also dense bushes of bamboos at the
lower altitudes, mostly belonging to the genus Arundinaria which
forms an ideal habitat for animals like the Red Panda, Ailurus
fulgens that thrive on their shoots. These bushes also play an
important role in soil conservation.
Bird life is represented by different types of
laughing thrushes in shrubs and on the forest floor; the
ubiquitous blue whistling thrush, redstarts and forktails near
waterfalls and hill-streams; mixed hunting parties comprising
small species such as warblers, tit-babblers, tree-creepers,
white-eyes, wrens, rose finches, yellow- bellied fantail
flycatchers, minlas and yuh~nas in rhododendrons and silver firs;
raptors such as black eagle, blackwinged kite and kestrel
patrolling the skies and pheasants such as monals and blood
pheasant, now becoming rare. Many migratory birds also use
Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary as a stopover before going down to the
Indian plains or back to Siberia.
Animals, though present are very difficult to
spot during a casual visit; but as this is the only safe refuge
available to them from the disturbance of nearby army cantonments,
you may expect to see signs of musk deer, serow, goral, common
langur and the red panda in the higher ranges of the sanctuary.
There are records of leopard and black bear too. So look carefully
for animal tracks and signs such as pugmarks, browsed branches,
droppings, small trails and dens in rocks and tree snags. The
forest will then come alive for you and with practice you will
soon be able to identify the animal making these signs.
Animals and birds breed late at this altitude
sometime between May to August. A lot of the smaller species use
underground dens and nests or lake over abandoned or disused
burrows. It is not uncommon to find small rivulets formed from
melting ;now of the winter months. Often the dense rhododendron
bushes around these water bodies serve is ideal sites for nesting
of birds and you should be careful not to disturb the hidden
occupants by avoiding walking into these bushes. Do study elements
of this unique high altitude lake ecosystem.
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Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary
(West
Sikkim)
Best Season to Visit : March - May and September -
November.
Area : 104 sq km
Altitude : 1600 m – 3600 m
This Rhododendron Sanctuary has been recently
established and lies in the West corner of Sikkim. Mountains
scarred by landslides suggest that development activities are
taking a toll on the environment and the flora and fauna are
definitely being affected. The loss of top soil, soil instability,
degeneration of agriculture land and shrinking of catchments areas
of the rivers are issues that are cause for concern. The alpine
areas of Sikkim in particular which look so powerfully big and
formidable are ironically most vulnerable and sensitive to
environment degradation. High altitude soil is not readily
regenerative and therefore overgrazing of yaks and sheep in alpine
meadows has led to many stretches of land becoming barren. Man has
realized that forests form an indispensable part of our life
support system and placed their conservation high on the agenda.
Perhaps in the thousands of species of flora in Sikkim, some of
them unique to this state and not found elsewhere, are some which
await to be discovered to provide life saving drugs to fight
diseases like cancer and AIDS that are stalking mankind. It is
truly said that in the wildness is the preservation of the world.
The best protection for the species is the people who know and
care about them. The need for development and the preservation of
the ecology have to be balanced and one should not be allowed to
overwhelm the other...more
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The
southern boundary includes Mount Narsing and Mount Pandim. The
western boundary comprises of the mighty Khangchendzonga which
presides over its namesake park and the Nepal Peak. Being bounded
by such formidable features, it is no wonder that the park has
remained ecologically untouched and therefore has provided a
natural protection to the flora and fauna it shelters. The fauna
includes the Snow Leopard, Himalayan Black Bear, Red Panda, Baking
deer and many other species. Many places in this park have perhaps
never been trod by man and it is very likely that new species may
be discovered here.