Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
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 km 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. Geography. 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 altitude and forest types helps the existence of a large number of species of mammals, birds and reptiles. Varying altitude from 500 ft at the southern range of Sukna forest to the elevation up to 4,500 ft 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 altitude of 4200 ft. Biodiversity. Avian fauna listed from this park are of A1, A2 and A3 categories with IBA site code IN-WB-07. Natural history. Biomes. Inside this wildlife sanctuary, the primary biomes corresponding to the ecoregions are: All of these are typical forest type of foothills of the Bhutan - Nepal - India hilly region between altitudinal range 500 ft to 4,500 ft. 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. 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.