Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in

Saitual district Saitual district is one of the eleven districts of Mizoram state in India. Saitual district became operational on 3 June 2019.The District Commissioner right now is involved with corruption along with the Village Council members of Keifang VC.T ...

in eastern

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

, northeast

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is an alpine forest and contains the second highest peak in Mizoram. It is specially a conservation interest on rare species of birds. It was declared a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in 1999, and a national

wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests on 31 May 2001.

Geography

Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Champhai district, only a few kilometres from Indo-Burma border and north of

Murlen National Park Murlen National Park is a national park located in the Champhai district Mizoram in India. The size of the park area is . The park is situated about 245 km east of Aizawl, and is close to the Chin Hills. It lies north of Lengteng Wildlife ...

. It lies adjacent to the village Lamzawl, and the nearest town is

Ngopa Ngopa is a town in the Saitual District of Mizoram, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of ...

. Selam village is within the sanctuary. It is at an altitude of 400-2,141 m asl. It covers an area of . It consists of several mountain peaks, and one of them is the second highest in all of Mizoram. Vegetation types are

tropical evergreen forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

and sub-tropical montane forest.

Vegetation

Lengteng is densely covered with evergreen and semi-

evergreen trees In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

. Major trees are ''

Quercus leucotrichophora ''Quercus leucotrichophora'' is a tree belonging to Family Fagaceae; commonly known as Banjh oak, Banj oak (Uttarakhand) and Ban oak (Himachal). In Nepal, it is known as ''Banjhi'', ''Rainj'', ''Khasarant'', ''Tikhe bhanjh'' in standard Nepali ...

'', ''

Lithocarpus ''Lithocarpus'' is a genus in the beech family, Fagaceae. Trees in this genus are commonly known as the stone oaks and differ from ''Quercus'' primarily because they produce insect-pollinated flowers on erect spikes and the female flowers have ...

dealbata'', ''

Schima wallichii ''Schima wallichii'' is an evergreen tree belonging to the tea family Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camel ...

'', ''

Lyonia ovalifolia ''Lyonia ovalifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Ericaceae. This plant is Native to Himalaya, Nepal, China, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, ...

'' and ''Vaccinium sprengelii''. Common herbs are ''Ageratum adenophorum'', ''Maesa indica'' and ''Eurya cerasifolia''.

Wildlife

Lengteng is home to a variety of animal species including birds. The most notable birds are the

dark-rumped swift The dark-rumped swift (''Apus acuticauda'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Bhutan and Northeast India and is a vagrant to Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threaten ...

grey sibia The grey sibia (''Heterophasia gracilis'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in China, India, and Myanmar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. References *Collar, N. J. & Robson C. ...

Mrs. Hume's pheasant Mrs. Hume's pheasant (''Syrmaticus humiae'')( mni, Nongin; literally, ''"one who follows the track of rain"''), also known as Hume's pheasant or the bar-tailed pheasant, is a large, up to 90 cm long, forest pheasant with a greyish brown head, ...

, grey peacock pheasant,

Oriental pied hornbill The oriental pied hornbill (''Anthracoceros albirostris'') is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the family Bucerotidae. Two other common names for this species are Sunda pied hornbill (''convexus'') and Mala ...

rufous-bellied eagle The rufous-bellied eagle or rufous-bellied hawk-eagle (''Lophotriorchis kienerii'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is found in the forested regions of tropical Asia. Relatively small for eagles and contrastingly patterned like ...

, and

white-naped yuhina The white-naped yuhina (''Yuhina bakeri'') is a bird species in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. It is found from the Himalayas to northern Myanmar. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. ...

. Blyth’s tragopan was also reported from a survey in 2011. Common animal species include

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

barking deer Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

goral The gorals are four species in the genus ''Naemorhedus''. They are small ungulates with a goat-like or antelope-like appearance. Until recently, this genus also contained the serow species (now in genus '' Capricornis''). Etymology The original ...

serow The serows ( or ) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under '' Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals. Extant ...

hoolock gibbon The hoolock gibbons are three primate species of genus ''Hoolock'' in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae, native to eastern Bangladesh, Northeast India, Myanmar, and Southwest China. Description Hoolocks are the second-largest of the gibbons, after ...

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally b ...

and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s. An

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

-classified

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

of primate,

northern pig-tailed macaque The northern pig-tailed macaque (''Macaca leonina'') is a vulnerable species of macaque in the subfamily Cercopithecidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Traditionally, ''M. leonina'' w ...

is reported here.

Conservation

Lengteng was declared a national wildlife sanctuary by the Ministry of Environment and Forests,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. The administration is under the state government through the Department of Environment and Forests. There had long been conservation problems among the native inhabitants such as villagers of Kawlbem, who had religious tradition of hunting wild animals for New Year feasts. The practised was stopped in 2010 under pressure from the government.

References

{{reflist

External links

Visit Northeast
Protected areas of Mizoram Geography of Mizoram Champhai district Wildlife sanctuaries in Mizoram Bird sanctuaries of India 1999 establishments in Mizoram Protected areas established in 1999