Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary (formerly ''Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary'') is the smallest
protected area of Bhutan covering in
Samdrup Jongkhar District
Samdrup Jongkhar District ( Dzongkha: བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་རྫོང་ཁག་; Wylie: ''Bsam-grub Ljongs-mkhar rdzong-khag'') is one of the 20 dzongkhags (districts) comprising Bhutan. The dominant langua ...
along the southern border with
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
. Its elevations range between and . Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary is, despite its small acreage, an important habitat for
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
s,
gaur
The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...
(''Bos gaurus''), and other tropical wildlife. It may also contain the rare
pygmy hog
The pygmy hog (''Porcula salvania'') is the rarest species of pig in the world today, and is the only species in the genus ''Porcula''. It is also the smallest species of pig in the world, with its piglets being small enough to fit in one's pock ...
(''Porcula salvania'') and
hispid hare
The hispid hare (''Caprolagus hispidus''), also called Assam rabbit and bristly rabbit, is a leporid native to South Asia, whose historic range extended along the southern foothills of the Himalayas. Today, its habitat is highly fragmented with an ...
(''Caprolagus hispidus'') known to inhabit the adjacent
Khaling Reserve in Assam, with which Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary forms a trans-border reserve.
See also
*
List of protected areas of Bhutan
The protected areas of Bhutan are its national parks, nature preserves, and wildlife sanctuaries. Most of these protected areas were first set aside in the 1960s, originally covering most of the northern and southern regions of Bhutan. Today, pro ...
References
Wildlife sanctuaries of Bhutan
Protected areas of Bhutan
Samdrup Jongkhar District
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