National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries In Bihar: BPSC Notes

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• Bhimbandh is located west of Santhal Pargana, north of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, and south of the Ganges River. 
• The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1976.
• It is located near Bhagalpur and spans a vast area with a surface size of over 682 square kilometres. It also has non-forest areas that are heavily populated on all sides. 
• The majority of the Bhimbandh Sanctuary’s terrain is made up of a cockling length of knolls, which offers a stunning view. 
• The Bhimbandh Sanctuary is easily reachable from any far-flung corner of the country because it is situated about 56 kilometres from the district of Munger toward its southwestern border.
• There are several hot water springs that maintain nearly the same temperature all year round, the best of which may be found in Bhimbandh, Sita Kund, and Rishi Kund. 
• The Bhimbandh springs, which have the highest temperatures (52 to 65 °C) and the highest flow rates (0.84 to 1.12 cubic/sec), are the finest location to explore the possibilities for geothermal energy.

• Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Gaya district of Bihar state and Koderma district of Jharkhand state in east-central India.
• The sanctuary, which has a 259 sq km area, was established in 1976. 
• The region was an exclusive hunting reserve until it was made into a wildlife refuge. 
• Parts of the Chota Nagpur dry deciduous forests and Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests ecoregions are covered by the sanctuary. 
• Dry and wet sal (Shorea robusta) forests, ravine thorn woods, and tropical dry riverine forests are among the natural vegetation found in the sanctuary.
• Tigers, leopards, wolves, sloth bears, chitals, chinkaras, and several bird species are among the fauna found in the sanctuary.

• Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary is located in two different districts named Kaimur and Rohtas.
• It is the largest sanctuary in the state and occupies an area of about 1342 sq km. 
• This sanctuary has ancient cave paintings and the world’s oldest Fossil Park to its acclaim.
• In the valleys of the sanctuary there are several waterfalls, of which the finest are, Karkat Waterfall and Telhar. 
• It is home to more than 70 species of resident birds, which stay here all around the year. The number increases in the migratory season i.e. during the winters, when there is an influx of birds from the Central Asia region.
• Tigers, leopards, wild boars, sloth bears, sambar deer, chitals, four-horned antelopes, and nilgais are just a few of the creatures that call the Wildlife Sanctuary home. 

• The Pant Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary close to the town of Rajgir in Bihar. 
• It is a part of the Nalanda Forest Division.
• The five mountains that make up the Pant Wildlife Sanctuary’s landscape are Ratnagiri, Vipulgiri, Vaibhargiri, Songiri, and Udaygiri.
• There is an eco-sensitive zone designated around the sanctuary which extends from 100 metres to three kilometres from the boundary of the sanctuary, covering an area of 29.545 sq km.
• The mixed deciduous forest of this sanctuary contains ecologically significant species of flora and wildlife, and the sanctuary’s woodlands assist recharge of the groundwater aquifer and prevent siltation of rivers and streams by reducing soil erosion.
• Species of vital importance in this sanctuary are: Wild boar (Sus scrofa), nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), chital (Axis axis), red junglefowl (Gallus gallus murghi), Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica), Indian hare (Lepus nigricollis), northern plains gray langur (Semnopithecus entellus), rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), and golden jackal (Canis aureus).
• Some of the endangered species found in the sanctuary are the Indian python (Python molurus) etc.

• Kanwar Taal is Asia’s largest freshwater oxbow lake also known as Kabar Taal Lake or Kabartal Wetland, and it is situated in the Begusarai region of Bihar, India.
• Locally known as Kanwar Jheel, it is situated 22 kilometres northwest of Begusarai town in Manjhaul.
• It was created by the geological meandering of the Burhi Gandak river, a tributary of the Ganga.
• It was designated as Bihar’s first Ramsar site by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in November 2020.
• Five critically endangered species inhabit the site, including three vultures – the red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) – and two waterbirds, the sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) and Baer’s pochard (Aythya baeri). 
• Major threats to the sanctuary are water management activities such as drainage, water abstraction, damming and canalization.

• The two sanctuaries at Nagi Dam and Nakti Dam are so near to one another that they can be considered one bird area.

• The Nagi-Nakti Bird Sanctuary is situated in south Bihar’s Jhajha Jamui district, close to the Jharkhand border.
• On February 25, 1984, Nagi Bird Sanctuary was designated a bird sanctuary in accordance with Section 18 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. 
• According to a report by Wetlands International, 1,600 bar-headed geese, or about 3% of the species’ global population, have been spotted here. As a result of this unusual occurrence, Birdlife International, a global organisation, has designated the Nagi Dam Bird Sanctuary as an important bird area and held that it is vital for the conservation of the world’s bird population.
• The area of the sanctuary is 2.1 square kilometres. 
• Over 136 species of birds have been spotted at these sanctuaries.
• During the winter, thousands of migratory birds congregate in the reservoir, particularly from November to February. 
• Some of these species found in the Nagi- Nakti Bird Sanctuaries are from Eurasia, Central Asia, the Arctic Circle, Russia and Northern China.
• Other major birds: Indian Courser, Indian Sandgrouse, Yellow-wattled Lapwing and Indian Robin.
• Major threats to the biodiversity of the sanctuaries: Agricultural runoff; Land dispute between Irrigation and Forest Departments; Leasing out of the site for fishing.

• The Bhagalpur District of Bihar, India, is home to the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary. 
• The sanctuary is a 60-kilometre stretch of the Ganges river in the Bhagalpur district, running from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon. 
• Being a riverine habitat, its boundary and expanse keep on changing due to changing geomorphology of the Ganga river. 
• The sanctuary is named after the well-known archaeological remnants of Vikramshila University, which, along with Nalanda during the Pala dynasty, was once a renowned centre of Buddhist learning throughout the world.
• It was designated as the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in 1991 and is Asia’s only protected habitat for critically endangered Gangetic dolphins. 
  • The Gangetic Dolphin is the national aquatic animal of India. 
  • The Gangetic Dolphins are also known as Soons by locals and are the main attraction. 
  • They are listed in Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and Appendix 2 of the Convention of Migratory Species, and they are considered endangered on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• The sanctuary is also home to a wide range of other aquatic species that are in danger, such as the 135 species of waterfowl, the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), the Indian smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), and other freshwater turtles.

• In Patna, Bihar, India, Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan, commonly referred to as Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park or Patna Zoo, is situated off Bailey Road. 
• The park was first created in 1969 as a botanical garden, and it was made public in 1973 as a zoo.
• Since 1973, this park has been a combination of a botanical garden with a zoo. 
• The state government declared the area to be a protected forest on March 8, 1983, after acquiring it from the Public Works Department and the Revenue Department.
• Originally a botanical garden, the park now has more than 300 different kinds of trees, herbs, and shrubs. There is a nursery for medicinal plants, a rose garden, an orchid house, a fern house, and a glass house.
• There are over 800 animals of about 110 species found in the park. These include tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, hippopotamus, crocodile, elephants, Himalayan black bear, jackal, black bucks, spotted deer, peafowl, hill myna, gharial, python, Indian rhinoceros, chimpanzee, giraffe, zebra, emu, and white peacock.

• The West Champaran district in the Indian state of Bihar is home to the Udaypur Wildlife Sanctuary. 
• It is located on 8.74 sq km of land and was established in 1978.
• It is located in the moist deciduous wood ecoregion of the Lower Gangetic Plains.
• The wildlife sanctuary is primarily a wetland and is situated on an oxbow lake in the Gandaki River floodplain. 
• A wide diversity of permanent and migratory aquatic birds inhabit the place. 
• The sanctuary contains sections of Khair-sissoo forest, dry riverine forest, and swamp forest (Acacia catechu-Dalbergia sissoo). 

• Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park are the 18th Tiger Reserve of the country.
• Bihar’s West Champaran district is home to the Valmiki National Park, a tiger reserve. 
• This protected area surrounds the Gangetic Plains biogeographic region.
• It is the only national park in Bihar.
• The Valmiki Tiger Reserve spans 898.45 sq km or 17.4% of the district’s overall land area. 
• There were 40 tigers living in the Reserve as of 2018.
• The Bettiah Raj and Ramanagar Raj owned the vast forest region of Valmiki Nagar (formerly known as Bhainsa Lotan) till the early 1950s.
• It was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1978 and it was made Valmiki National Park in 1990. 
• The Valmiki Nagar National Park is rich in flora and fauna. It contains a combination of forests like moist mixed deciduous forests without Sal, wet and dry Sal forests and tropical swamp forests without wet grasslands and reed beds.
• There are nearly 32 reptiles in the forest, including cobras, pythons, krait, crocodiles, sand boas, gharials, monitor lizards, banded krait, etc.

For details about the Valmiki National Park, visit the linked article.