Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
Location in West Bengal, India
Location	Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Nearest city	Siliguri
Coordinates	26°28′52″N 88°15′50″E / 26.481°N 88.264°E / 26.481; 88.264
Area	158 km2 (61 sq mi)
Established	1976
Governing body	Government of India, Government of West Bengal

Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary (Pron: móhɑ́nɑ́ndaa) is located on the foothills of the Himalayas, between the Teesta and Mahananda rivers. Situated in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India; it comes under Darjeeling Wildlife division and can be reached from Siliguri in 30 minutes. Sukna, the gateway to the sanctuary, is only 13 km from Siliguri and 28 km from Bagdogra airport. The sanctuary sprawls over 159 km² of reserve forest and was started as a game sanctuary in 1955. In 1959, it got the status of a sanctuary mainly to protect the Indian bison and royal Bengal tiger, which were facing the threat of extinction.^[1]

Geography

[fullscreen map]

Places and tea estates in the southern portion of Darjeeling Sadar subdivision (including Jorebunglow Sukhiapokhri CD block), Kurseong subdivision and Mirik Subdivision in Darjeeling district
CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, NP: national park/ wildlife sanctuary, TE: tea estate
Abbreviations used in names – TG for Tea Garden (town/village), TE for Tea Estate
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly

The forest type in Mahananda WLS varies from riverain forests like Khayer-Sisoo to dense mixed-wet forest in the higher elevation in Latpanchar area of Kurseong hills. The variation in elevation and forest types helps the existence of a large number of species of mammals, birds and reptiles. Varying elevation from 166 metres at the southern range of Sukna forest to the elevation up to 1,500 metres at Latkothi beat office covers varied vegetation and is home to superb biome restricted species. Latpanchar actually forms the highest part of the Sanctuary, with an average elevation of 1,400 metres.

Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Biodiversity

Avian fauna listed from this park are of A1, A2 and A3 categories with IBA site code IN-WB-07.^[2]

Natural history

Biomes

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

• Sino-Himalayan Temperate Forest of the Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests Biome 7
• Sino-Himalayan Subtropical Forest of the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests Biome 8
• Indo-Chinese Tropical Moist Forest of the Himalayan subtropical pine forests Biome 9

All of these are typical forest type of foothills of the Bhutan - Nepal - India hilly region between altitudinal range 166 metres to 1,500 metres.

Fauna

Birds at Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary includes some very endangered species like Rufous-necked Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Great Hornbill etc. Among the others swallow, swift, thrush, babbler, warbler, roller, minivet and sunbird can be found in abundance.

• 
  Rufous-necked Hornbill (Aceros nipalensis)
• 
  Nepal Fulvetta (Alcippe nipalensis)
• 
  Rufous-necked Laughingthrush (Garrulax ruficollis)
• 
  Asian Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx maculatus)

Some exotic species of mammals are reported from this area like Himalayan serow, Himalayan porcupine, Himalayan Black Bear and even more rarer like Binturong and Clouded Leopard. Other important mammalian species include Indian elephants, Indian bison, chital (spotted deer), barking deer, sambar, rhesus monkey, many species of lesser cat like fishing cat and jungle cat, leopard etc.