Jharkhand National Parks, Tiger Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries & Ramsar Sites

Jharkhand National Parks, Tiger Reserves

Betla National Parks

• Betla National Park is a national park located on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the Latehar and Palamu district of Jharkhand.
• North Koel River (a tributary of Son River) flows through the park.
• Belta National Park = Palamu Tiger Reserve + Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary
• Vegetation: Bamboo and sal forests.
• Major Fauna: Elephants, Bengal tiger, sloth bear, gaur, chital, sambhar, nilgai, mouse deer, rhesus monkeys, Indian giant squirrels, sambhar deer, chausingha.
• Major Avifauna: Hornbill, black ibis, quail.

Palamu Tiger Reserve

• It is one of the nine original Tiger Reserves in India.
• It forms part of Betla National Park and Palamu Wildlife Sanctuary. North Koel River runs through the reserve.
• Major Fauna: Tigers, elephants, leopards, gaurs, sambars.
• Issue: Naxalites existence along with difficult terrain makes proper surveillance and implementation of conservation measures tough.

Wildlife Sanctuaries of Jharkhand

Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is an important elephant corridor in the Dalma Hills.
• The wildlife sanctuary has elephants, barking deer, sloth bear and porcupines as the main inhabitants.

Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is located in Bihar and Jharkhand.
• It covers the Lower Gangetic Plains (moist deciduous forests) and Chota Nagpur (dry deciduous forests).

Mahuadanr Wolf Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is located along the Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh border.
• It is part of Betla National Park.
• It is a breeding ground for Indian Wolf.

Palkot Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is contiguous with the Koel River Valley forests, Saranda-Singhbhum Range forests and Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Three major rivers – the Sankh, South Koel and North Karo – along with their numerous tributaries, drain the area. The hilly area has large deposits of Bauxite. 

Parasnath Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is situated in Parasnath Hills (Chota Nagpur Plateau).
• The name of this sanctuary has been derived from 23rd Jain Tirthankar, Lord Pashwanath, whose nirvana was done on this hill.
• The wild fauna comprises Leopard, Sloth Bear, Sambhar, Nilgai, Barking Deer, Wild Boar, Langur, Monkey, Mongoose, Jungle cat, Porcupine, Hyaena etc. in addition to varieties of birds and reptiles.

Udhwa Lake Bird Wildlife Sanctuary

• Situated in the Sahebganj district of the state of Jharkhand.
• It is the only Bird Sanctuary of Jharkhand state.
• It comprises two backwater lakes over Ganga River.
• Udhwa is named after saint Uddhava of Mahabharat times, a friend of Lord Krishna.
• Sanctuary is identified as an ‘Important Bird Area’.

Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary

• Located to north of Ranchi.
• Hazaribagh district is the only place in Jharkhand with vultures in the wild.

Kodarma Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is adjacent to Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Dry deciduous forests.

Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary

• Located in Chatra district of Jharkhand.
• It is contiguous with Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary and Kodarma Wildlife Sanctuary along the Bihar-Jharkhand border.
• The sanctuary is surrounded by the Amanat River in the south, the Chako River in the west and the Lilajan River in the north-east.

Topchanchi Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is adjacent to the Parasnath Wildlife Sanctuary.
• The sanctuary is situated alongside National Highway 2.
• Dry mixed deciduous forests with dry peninsular sal forests.