Borail Wildlife Sanctuary

BARAIL Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the southern part of Assam, India, in the Cachar district, and lies between 24°55΄53΄΄-25°05΄52΄΄ N latitude and 92°27΄40΄΄-93°04΄30΄΄ E longitude. The Dima Hasao part of Barail is not part of this sanctuary. The altitude ranges between 55–1500 m above mean sea level. It spreads over 326.24 km².^[1] The annual average rainfall and temperature range from 2500–4000 mm and 9.2 °C to 36.2 °C respectively; the humidity varies from 62% to 83%.^[2][3] Fieldworks in the Barail area were proposed as a national park or sanctuary in the 1980s.^[4][5]

The sanctuary consists of the North Cachar Reserved Forest and Barail Reserved Forest, located within the Cachar district. The habitat has been classified as moist tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests.^[6] The forest is home to a wide diversity of wildlife. Mammals found in Barail Sanctuary include slow loris, hoolock gibbon, capped langur, Assamese macaque, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, rhesus monkey, Himalayan black bear, Malayan sun bear, leopard cat, jungle cat, golden cat, clouded leopard, barking deer, red serow and wild pig.^[7] With more than 300 species of birds, the sanctuary is a birdwatcher's paradise. Some noteworthy species found include White-backed vulture, Slender-billed vulture, Rufous-throated and White-cheeked hill partridges, Grey peacock pheasant, Kaleej pheasant, Great pied hornbill, Oriental pied hornbill, Rufous-necked hornbill, Wreathed hornbill, and Austen's brown hornbill.^[8] Reptiles include the Burmese rock python and king cobra.^[9]

Besides the above, the sanctuary also harbors a high diversity of floral wealth, e.g., Ornithochilus cacharensis, an epiphytic orchid species, Larsenianthus assamensis a terrestrial zingiber species; Diospyros cacharensis, a small deciduous tree belonging to the family Ebenaceae; and Alseodaphne keenanii a large tree belonging to the family Lauraceae, were described for the first time for this sanctuary, and all are endemic to north-east India.

The nearest town is Silchar, which is 40 km away. The sanctuary is also a good destination for trekkers.

References

1. "Borail Wildlife Sanctuaries". Department of Environment & Forests - Government of Assam. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
2. Barbhuiya, H.A. and S.K. Singh. 2012.
3. Liverwort and Hornwort of Barail Wild Life Sanctuary, Assam, India. Archive for Bryology 134 1-12
4. Choudhury, A.U.(1989). Primates of Assam: their distribution, habitat and status. Ph.D. thesis. Gauhati University, Guwahati, India. Pp. 300+maps.
5. Choudhury, A.U.(1989). Campaign for wildlife protection:national park in the Barails. WWF-Quarterly No. 69,10(2): 4–5.
6. "Barail Wildlife Sancturary". Enajori.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
7. Choudhury, A.U. (2013). The mammals of North East India. Gibbon Books & Rhino Foundation with support from COA,Taiwan.Pp.432.
8. Choudhury, A.U. (2000). The birds of Assam. Gibbon Books & WWF-India. Pp. 240.
9. "Borail Wildlife Sanctuaries". Department of Environment & Forests - Government of Assam. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2014.