Wildlife Sanctuaries in Aizawl

The capital Aizawl is a beautiful town in Mizoram having naturally beauty places like wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. These sanctuaries and national parks in and near Aizawl are home to varied species of flora and fauna. Let us discuss more about these sanctuaries in Aizawl.

Dampa Wildlife Sanctuary

Dampa Wildlife Sanctuary or Dampa Tiger Reserve is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Mizoram. Situated on the western part of Mizoram on the international border with Bangladesh the sanctuary was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1944. Covering an area of 550 sq kms, the sanctuary is located at a distance of 127 kms from Aizawl.

Flora and fauna in the sanctuary

The sanctuary is marked by having varied flora and fauna. The altitude of the sanctuary varies from 200 to 800 meters. It consists of tropical forests. The forests comprises a mixture of species like the Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Terminalia myriocarpa, Dipterocarpus macrocarpus, Michelia champaca, Sterculia vilosa and Artocarpus chaplasha and many species of bamboo, canes and epiphytes. The sanctuary is also famous for the variety of orchids found here.

Diverse fauna species are also found in the sanctuary like those of Rhesus macaque, pigtail macaque, leaf monkey, stump tail macaque, Assamese macaque, Hollock Gibbon, slow Loris, tiger, giant squirrel, leopard, gaur, Indian elephant, serow, barking deer, porcupine, wild boar, sloth bear and Himalayan black bear. Among the avifauna species great hornbill, grey peacock pheasant, oriental pied hornbill, red jungle fowl, Malbar pied hornbill, crested serpent eagle, emerald dove and hill mynah are found here. Reptiles like the Indian rock python, king cobra, monitor lizard and hill tortoise are also found in the sanctuary.

The sanctuary could be visited round the year as the climate here is pleasant with cool summers and cold winters. The rainfall months prevail from May to September.

Tawi Sanctuary

The Tawi Wildlife Sanctuary is located about 115 kms from state capital Aizawl. Notified in the year 1978, it is one of the first sanctuaries of Mizoram. The terrain and vegetation of the sanctuary includes tropical evergreen and semi evergreen forests which provides a habitat to a number of rare species of flora and fauna. Tree species like cane, bamboo, champaca, Michelia, Schima wallichi, Gmelina arborea, Terminalia spp and Duabanga are found in the sanctuary. Among the fauna species tiger, sambar, leopard, barking deer, serow, jungle cat and Rhesus macaque are found along with avifauna species like jungle fowl, hill mynah, common partridges, Kallej pheasant. The best time to visit this sanctuary is from October to March.

Lengteng National Park

The Lengteng National park is situated close to the Indo-Myanmar and Indo-Bangladesh borders. The wildlife sanctuary is located around 250 kms east of the state capital Aizawl and covers and area of 60 sq kms.

Flora and fauna

The altitude of the sanctuary varies from 400 meters to 2300 meters above sea level. Large tracts of sub tropical evergreen and sub montane forests covrer the sanctuary. The fauna species found in the sanctuary are tiger, sambar, leopard, ghoral, barking deer, serow, wild boar, Hollock Gibbon and Rhesus macaque. And among the avifauna species, Mrs. Hume’s bar tailed pheasant and Kaleej pheasant are found.

Murlen National Park

Considered one of the best National Parks of Mizoram, the Murlen National Park is situated about 245 km east of Aizawl. The park covers an area of approximately 100 sq. km and is significant because of its close proximity to the Chin Hills.

Flora and fauna

The national park is home to a rich variety of Flora and Fauna. About 15 species of mammals,  35 species of Medicinal plants, 150 species of birds, 2 species of bamboos and 4 species of orchids are recorded in the Park. Quercus, Betula specie, Schima wallichii, Pinus Khasia, Rhodendron and variety of orchids are found here. Animals like Tiger, Sambar, Leopard, Barking deer, Serow, Himalayan Black Bear, Hoolock gibbon, Malayan giant, Rhesus macaque, squirrel, Kallej Pheasant, Hume's Pheasant, Common partridges, dark rumped swift and Hill myna are found here.  

Khawnglung Wildlife Sanctuary

Situated approximately 170 kms from Aizawl, Khawnglung Wildlife Sanctuary covers an area of about 41 Sq Km and ranges in altitude from 400m to 1300m. the forest type here is sub tropical, semi evergreen forest. Animals commonly found here are Sambar, Hoolock Gibbon, Tiger, Barking deer, Serrow and variety of birds.