Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary

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, Dakline Lingtam, Phadamchen, Dzuluk, Gnathang Monastery 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 1999 as a wildlife sanctuary under biogeographic province category 2C.[3]

Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary
Location in Sikkim, India
Location East Sikkim District, Sikkim
Nearest cityRangpo
Coordinates27°20′N 88°46′E
Area124 square km
Established2002[1][2]
Governing bodyGovernment of India, Government of Sikkim

Geography

Altitudinal range of the sanctuary lies between 1760 metres to 4390 meters.[4] 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.[5] 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 the rainy season from mid April to mid October.

Biodiversity

This wildlife sanctuary supports a large variety of animals, since it falls at the junction of Palearctic realm and Indomalayan realm.[5] As a Biogeographic Province, this wildlife sanctuary comes under 2C category.[3] [6]

Natural history

Ecoregions and biomes

Inside this wildlife sanctuary, the primary ecoregions and their corresponding biomes are:

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.[5]

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.

Sightings of a Royal Bengal tiger in the Sanctuary has been reported through 2 images captured by camera traps laid by the forest Officials. The camera captured two images of the tiger on the night of December 6, 2018 - at 6.23 pm and at 7 pm, near Goru Jurey, at an altitude of 9,583 feet, according to the DFO of the region. The official also stated that there had been oral narratives of tigers freely roaming in the forests of Sikkim until the late 1980s. And on January 2, 2019, at 4:22 PM, the camera recorded a snow leopard in the same spot. This very elusive and shy animal had earlier been captured on camera in the northern and western parts of Sikkim. However, this is the first photographic capture of a snow leopard in East Sikkim.

This image capture of both, the Bengal Tiger and the Snow Leopard, in exactly the same location confirms the overlap in the migratory routes used by the two big cats inside Pangolakha, having migrated from the neighbouring Neora Valley National Park of West Bengal, it's been further reported by the Divisional Forest Officer.

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.[7]

References
  1. http://wiienvis.nic.in/Database/wls_8230.aspx
  2. Important Bird Areas in India - Sikkim : Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary - Zuluk - Bedang Tso - Natula Complex.
  3. Wildlife Protected areas of Sikkim : http://www.sikenvis.nic.in/Database/Wildlife_785.aspx?format=Print
  4. Pangolakha WLS Boundary : http://www.sikenvis.nic.in/writereaddata/sd26.pdf
  5. O'Neill, A. R. (2019). "Evaluating high-altitude Ramsar wetlands in the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas". Global Ecology and Conservation. 20 (e00715): 19. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00715.
  6. http://www.sikenvis.nic.in/writereaddata/sd26.pdf
  7. PANGOLAKHA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY–ZULUK-BEDANG TSO-NATHU LA - UG Lachungpa : IBA doc: http://www.sikkimforest.gov.in/docs/IBA/sk9.pdf
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