Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary


Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in Uttarakhand, India that was created in 2012. The sanctuary is part of the Terai Arc Landscape, a forest zone that stretches from Uttarakhand in India and extends into Nepal.

Terai Arc Landscape

The Terai Arc Landscape extends from River Yamuna in India in the west to River Bagmati in Nepal in the east covering an area of about 50,000 km2. The landscape is part of the Tarai-Duar Savana Eco-region and has two distinct physiographic regions, the terai and the bhabar. TAL has one of the world's densest tiger populations and houses 14 protected areas of which five are in Nepal. The tiger, the Asian elephant and the Indian rhinoceros are three flagship species of the region. In Uttarakhand, the rivers Yamuna, Ganga, Gola and Sarda divide the terai into three large landscapes.

Nandhaur Sanctuary

The Nandhaur Sanctuary lies between the Gola and Sarda rivers in the Haldwani forest division and covers an area of 269.96 km2. The Nandhaur Sanctuary is a link between the Bramhadev and Sukhlaphata Wildlife Reserves of Nepal and the western forests of Ramnagar and the Terai central forest division in India. Before its notification as a wildlife sanctuary by the IndianMinistry of Environment and Forests, most of the Nandhaur landscape was a reserve forest. Nandhaur is primarily a sal forest.
Since 2002, Nandhaur has been a part of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve. The Wildlife Institute of India in 2004 recognised Nandhaur as one of three viable habitats key to the long-term future of the tiger.

Flora and fauna

Flora

Although it is primarily a sal forest, Nandhaur more than 100 species of trees, over 30 species of shrubs and about 35 species of climbers and grasses. According to the Champion and Seth forest classification, Nandhaur has 27 different types and sub-types of forest within its boundaries. Besides the sal, shisham, bamboo, teak and chir pine are important trees.

Fauna

Nandhaur is home to about 25 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 15 species of reptiles and 20 species of fishes. The major mammalian species include Asian elephants, leopards, tigers and sloth bears.

Threats

and boulder mining, poaching and the diversion of forest land for non-forestry related developmental activities are the major threats faced by Nandhaur.