Jaldapara Sanctuary

Description

• Elevation

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Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary is a protect park situated at the foothills of Eastern Himalayas in Alipurduar Sub-Division of Jalpaiguri District in West Bengal and on the bank of river Torsa and have an area of 141 km² and altitude of 61 m. Jaldapara, the vast grassland with patches of riverine forests was declared a sanctuary in 1941 for protection of the great variety flora and fauna, particularly the one-horned rhinoceros, an animal threatened with extinction.

The forest is mainly savannah covered with tall elephant grasses. The main attraction of the sanctuary is Asiatic one-horned rhinoceros. The sanctuary holds the maximum number of rhinos population in India after Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The other animals consists of Royal Bengal Tigers, elephants, deers, sambhar, barking deer, spotted deer and hog deer, wild pig, bisons. Jaldapara is a paradise for bird watchers. It is one of the very few places in India, where the Bengal Florican is sighted. The other birds to be found here are the Crested Eagle, Pallas's Fishing Eagle and shikra, besides Jungle fowl, peafowl, patridges, Bengal Florican and lesser Pied Hornbill. Python, monitor lizards, kraits, cobras, geckos and about 8 species of fresh water turtles have also found sanctuary here. Many of the animals are endangered like - the Asiatic one-horned rhino and elephants in Jaldapara sanctuary

The park opens to visitors throughout the year except from 15 June until 14 September. During the period from October to May, and particularly March and April, new grass starts growing.

Gorumara National Park:

This park is located at a distance of around 62 km from the Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary. This national park is a perfect place for the one who wish to have some extra taste of wildlife as this park offers amazing opportunities for bird watching.