West Bengal National Parks, Tiger Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries & Ramsar Sites Map
Buxa National Park, Tiger Reserve
Buxa Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve and national park in the Alipurduar Sub-division of Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal. It lies in the Gangetic Plains.
It was created in 1983 as the 15thtiger reserve of India. It was declared as a National Park in January 1992.
The northern boundary of Buxa Tiger Reserve runs along the international border with Bhutan. The Sinchula hill range lies all along the northern side of Buxa National Park and the Eastern boundary touches that of the Assam State.
The Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary of Bhutan is contiguous to the north of Buxa tiger reserve.
The main rivers flowing across the Tiger Reserve are Sankosh, Raidak, Jayanti, Churnia, Turturi, Phashkhawa, Dima and Nonani.
Tiger Corridor:
The reserve has corridor connectivity across the border with the forests of Bhutan in the North, on the East it has linkages with the Kochugaon forests, Manas Tiger Reserve and on the West with the Jaldapara National Park. The following corridor links are important:
Buxa-Titi (via Torsa): Connecting Rangamati Reserve Forest area of Buxa Tiger Reserve with Titi Reserve Forest.
Buxa-Titi (via Beech and Bharnabari Tea estate): Connecting Bharnabari Reserve Forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve and Titi Reserve Forest situated south of Dalsingpara tea estate by passing through Bharnabari tea estate and Beech tea estate.
Nimati-Chilapata (Buxa-Chilapata): Facilitating elephant movement between Nimati Range of Buxa Tiger Reserve and Chilapata Reserve Forest, thereby maintaining elephant movement between Buxa Tiger Reserve and Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary (West Bengal).
Buxa-Ripu at Sankosh (Sankosh): This corridor is a contiguous forest that connects Buxa Tiger Reserve of West Bengal with the Ripu Reserve Forest of Kachugaon Forest Division, Assam.
The corridors mentioned above form part of North East and Brahmaputra Valley tiger landscape, providing crucial linkages for the dispersal of tigers to various protected areas like, Buxa, Manas Tiger Reserve (Assam), Phipsoo Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan and Jaldapara National Park.
Vegetation: Evergreen and semi-evergreen, moist and dry deciduous, savannah and grasslands.
Major Fauna: Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, gaur, sambar deer, clouded leopard, Indian leopard.
Major Flora: Bengal florican, lesser adjutant, great hornbill, Amur falcon.
Threats: Flooding, poaching of elephants.
Gorumara National Park
The park is located in the Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district, in the West Bengal, in the Eastern Himalaya’s Terai belt. It is primarily known for its population of Indian rhinoceros.
Gorumara was declared as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1949.
Gorumara National Park was established in 1992.
The major river of the park is the Jaldhaka River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra.
Vegetation: Rolling forests and riverine grasslands known as Duars and moist deciduous forests.
Major Flora: Sal, common teak and grasslands.
Major Fauna: Indian rhinoceros, gaur, Asian elephant, sloth bear, chital, sambar deer, barking deer, hog deer.
Jaldapara National Park
Jaldapara National Park is located in the Jalpaiguri district of the state of West Bengal, on the banks of Torsa River at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas.
It has the largest population of the Indian one-horned rhinoceros after Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The nearby Chilapata Forests is an elephant corridor between Jaldapara and Buxa Tiger Reserve while Gorumara National Park is known for its population of Indian rhinoceros.
Drained by rivers Torsa, Malangi, Hollong, Chirakhawa, Kalijhora, Sissamara, Bhaluka and Buri.
The Western side of River Torsha is called the Jaldapara and the Eastern side is known as Chilapata forests.
Vegetation: Mainly savannah with tall elephant grasses. More than 30% of the total area is grassland.
Major Fauna: Indian rhinoceros, leopard, elephants, sambar, barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, gaur.
Neora Valley National Park
Neora Valley National Park is in Kalimpong district, West Bengal.
It is the land of Red Panda (EN).
It is linked to Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary of Pakyong District, Sikkim. It is also an integral part of the Kanchenjunga Landscape.
Vegetation: Himalayan Broadleaf forests.
Major Flora: Rhododendron, bamboo, oak, ferns, sal.
Major Fauna: Indian leopard, black bear, sloth bear, golden cat, barking dee, Himalayan flying squirrel, thar.
Singalila National Park
Singalila National Park is located on the Singalila Ridge, in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
It is well known for the trekking route to Sandakphu that runs through it.
The two highest peaks of West Bengal, Sandakphu (3630 m) and Phalut (3600 m), are located on the ridge and inside the park.
Rammam river and Srikhola River flow through the park.
Vegetation: Coniferous, Broadleaf and mixed forests.
Major Fauna: Red panda, yellow-throated marten, pangolin, Himalayan black bear, clouded leopard, takin.
Sunderban Biosphere Reserve, National Park, Tiger Reserve, Ramsar Site
Sunderban is the largest delta and mangrove forest in the world. Sundarbans National Park is a part of the Sundarbans on the Ganges Delta and is adjacent to the Sundarban Reserve Forest in Bangladesh.
It contains the world’s largest mangrove forests. It is bound on the west by river Muriganga and on the east by rivers Harinbhahga and Raimangal.
It is also a BR, Tiger Reserve, Ramsar Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sundarban Wetland, India was recognised as the ‘Wetland of International Importance’ under the Ramsar Convention in January 2019.
The park is composed of 54 small islands and intersected by several distributaries of the Ganges river.
Eco-geography of this area is dependent on thetidal effect. The tidal action deposits silts back on the channels, raising the bed and forming new islands and creeks.
Vegetation: Mangrove forests (Sundarbans has achieved its name from the Sundari mangrove tree).
Major Fauna: Royal Bengal Tiger, saltwater crocodile, river terrapin, olive ridley turtle, Ganges River dolphin, hawksbill turtle, mangrove horseshoe crab.
Wildlife Sanctuaries of West Bengal
Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary
It is contiguous with Gorumara National Park.
They lie between Teesta and JaldhakaRivers.
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
It is situated in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
It is located on the foothills of the Himalayas in the Darjeeling district, between the Teesta and Mahananda Rivers (a small tributary of Ganga).
Ballavpur Wildlife Sanctuary
Ballabhpur Wildlife Sanctuary (popular as Deer Park) was established in 1977.
This wooded area is located near Bolpur Santiniketan in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum District in the state of West Bengal.
It is home to numerous Cheethals (Spotted Deer), Blackbuck and other resident animals like jackals and foxes.
Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary
Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Bethuadahari town (Nakashipara area) of Nadia District, West Bengal.
The sanctuary is located beside National Highway 12.
The sanctuary was established in 1980 to preserve a portion of the central Gangetic alluvial zone.
The sanctuary has a large population of spotted deer (chital), jackal, Bengal fox, porcupine, Asian plam Civet cat, Jungle Cat, Small civet Cat, Black Napped Hare and common langur.
Bibhuti Bhusan Wildlife Sanctuary
Bibhutibhusan Wildlife Sanctuary (formerly Parmadan Forest) is an animal sanctuary in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Situated on the banks of theIchamati River, it has more than 200 deer, birds, rabbit and many langurs.
Chintamani Kar Bird Wildlife Sanctuary
Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary also known as Kayal-r Bagan, is a bird sanctuary located in West Bengal, south of Kolkata.
This garden is famous for its wide variety of birds, butterflies, ferns and orchids.
Haliday Island Wildlife Sanctuary
It is a part of the ‘Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve‘, with the Sundarbans region.
It is the habitat of some high-altitude animals like Himalayan Salamander, locally known as ‘Gora’.
Lothian Island Wildlife Sanctuary
It is situated in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal.
The wildlife in this sanctuary includes estuarine crocodiles, olive ridley sea turtles, spotted deer, jungle cats and rhesus macaques.
Pakhi Bitan Bird Sanctuary
The Pakhibitan Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the Teesta Barrage’s foreshore in the Gajaldoba waterbody in the Jalpaiguri district of North Bengal.
While it is not situated directly on a river, it is in close proximity to the Teesta River.
Raiganj Bird Wildlife Sanctuary
Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary (also popularly known as Kulik Bird Sanctuary) is situated near Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal.
Ramnabagan Wildlife Sanctuary
Located in Bardhaman city (on the left bank of the Damodar River) in Purba Bardhaman district.
Sajnakhali Wildlife Sanctuary
Located in the northern part of the Sundarbans delta in South 24 Parganas district.
Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary
Located in the Darjeeling district; contiguous with the Singalila National Park.
West Sunderban Wildlife Sanctuary
Part of larger Sundarbans region.
Ramsar Sites of West Bengal
East Kolkata Wetlands
The East Kolkata Wetlands are a complex of natural and human-made wetlands lying east of the city of Calcutta (Kolkata), of West Bengal.
The wetlands are also used to treat Kolkata’s sewage, and the nutrients contained in the wastewater sustain fish farms and agriculture.
It feeds one of the world’s largest wastewater fed aquaculture.
Sundarban Wetland
The Sundarbans comprises hundreds of islands and a network of rivers, tributaries and creeks in the delta of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal in India and Bangladesh.
It is the largest Ramsar Site in India and is located within the largest mangrove forest.
The Indian Sundarbans constitutes over 60% of the country’s total mangrove forest area and includes 90% of Indian mangrove species.
The Indian Sundarbans, also a UNESCO world heritage site, is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.
It is also home to rare and globally threatened species, such as the critically endangered northern river terrapin (Batagur baska), the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), and the vulnerable fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus).
