Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary (also spelled Gautam Buddha) is a

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 ...

located in

Gaya district } Gaya district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. It was officially established on 3 October 1865. The district has a common boundary with the state of Jharkhand to the south. Gaya city is both the district hea ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

state and

Koderma district Koderma district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Koderma is the administrative headquarters of this district. Koderma district was created on 10 April 1994, after being carved out of the original Hazaribag ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

state in east-central

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 countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The refuge was established in 1976, and covers an area of 259 km². Prior to becoming a wildlife refuge, the area was a private hunting reserve. The refuge covers portions of the Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests and Chota Nagpur dry deciduous forests ecoregions. Plant communities include dry and moist sal ''(

Shorea robusta ''Shorea robusta'', the sal tree, sāla, shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions . Evolution Fossil evidence from l ...

)'' forests, ravine

thorn forest A thorn forest is a dense scrubland with vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with a seasonal rainfall averaging . Regions Africa Is present in the southwest of Africa with smaller areas in other places of Africa. ...

, and tropical dry

riverine forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word ...

.Negi, Sharad Singh (2002). ''Handbook of National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Biosphere Reserves in India.'' Indus Publishing. pp. 94 Fauna include

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, 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 pr ...

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, ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation ...

chital The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Po ...

chinkara The chinkara (''Gazella bennettii''), also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Taxonomy The following six subspecies are considered valid: * Deccan chinkara (''G. b. bennettii ...

s, and many species of birds. The sanctuary has a rest house. The refuge is 65 km southeast of Gaya, which has a railway station and airport.

References

{{protected areas of Jharkhand Chota Nagpur dry deciduous forests Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests Wildlife sanctuaries in Bihar Wildlife sanctuaries in Jharkhand Tourist attractions in Gaya district Hazaribagh district Protected areas established in 1976 1976 establishments in Bihar