Pant Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in India, situated near

Rajgir Rajgir, old name Rajagriha, meaning "The City of Kings," is an ancient city and university town in the Nalanda district of Bihar, India. It was the capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty, the Maurya ...

Nalanda district Nalanda district is one of the thirty-eight Districts of Bihar, districts of the state of Bihar in India. Bihar Sharif is the administrative headquarters of this district. The districts is home to the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara a UNESCO World He ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, India. It is under the

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

forest division.

Climate

The climate is normal for the Nalanda district. There are three distinct seasons, summer (March to May) when temperature remains 44° C - 20° C, winter (October to February) when temperature remains 28° C - 6° C, and Monsoon (June to September) when rainfall is 1860 mm. The average summer temperature is , and the average winter temperature is .

Geography

This wildlife sanctuary represents a remnant patch of forests nestled in the picturesque Rajgir Hills within the South Gangetic Plain. This sanctuary lies between latitudes 24°55’ and 25°05’ N and longitude 85°6’ and 85°30’ E in

Nalanda District Nalanda district is one of the thirty-eight Districts of Bihar, districts of the state of Bihar in India. Bihar Sharif is the administrative headquarters of this district. The districts is home to the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara a UNESCO World He ...

and extends over an area of 3584 hectares or 35.84 sq. km. For protection, this forest was notified as Pant Wildlife Sanctuary Rajgir in 1978.

Landscape

The landscape of Pant Wildlife Sanctuary is uneven terrain enclosed by five mountains – Ratnagiri, Vipulgiri, Vaibhargiri, Songiri and Udaygiri.

Flora and fauna

The forests of this sanctuary intercept rainfall and help recharge ground water aquifer, protect rivers and streams against siltation by minimising soil erosion and the sanctuary has ecologically important species of flora and fauna, with

mixed deciduous 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 (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

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 Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

(''Sus scrofa''),

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Boselaphus'', which was ...

(''Boselaphus tragocamelus''),

chital The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also called spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, mal ...

(''Axis axis''),

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the a ...

(''Gallus gallus murghi''),

Indian crested porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. Des ...

(''Hystrix indica''),

Indian hare The Indian hare (''Lepus nigricollis''), also known as the black-naped hare, is a common species of hare native to the Indian subcontinent, and Java. Its habitat in Java is in rocky highlands. Description The Indian hare is of medium size compar ...

(''Lepus nigricollis''),

northern plains gray langur The northern plains gray langur (''Semnopithecus entellus''), also known as the sacred langur, Bengal sacred langur and Hanuman langur, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Taxonomy The northern plains gray langur belongs to th ...

(''Semnopithecus entellus''),

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 split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

(''Macaca mulatta''), and

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

(''Canis aureus'') are the species of vital importance in this sanctuary, besides some of the endangered species like

Indian python The Indian python (''Python molurus'') is a large Pythonidae, python species native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is also known by the common names black-tailed python, Indian rock python, ...

(''Python molurus'') etc. are also found in the sanctuary. The sanctuary has substantial faunal diversity with 28 species of large mammals, 183 species of birds, 39 species of reptiles, 11 species of amphibians, 13 species of fish and 51 species of butterfly, many of whom are threatened.

Eco-sensitive zone

In 2015 an eco-sensitive zone was designated around the sanctuary. The eco-sensitive zone extends from 100 metres to three kilometres from the boundary of the sanctuary, covering an area 2954.5 hectares or 29.545 sq. km. The Bihar state government was directed to create a zonal master plan to document and preserve forests, water bodies, agricultural areas, and places of worship, to regulate development, land use, infrastructure, and industries, and to restore denuded areas and water catchments within the zone.

Administration

It is administered by

forest division under the

Administration,

Rajgir Zoo Safari

Rajgir Zoo Safari is an under construction

Safari park A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. A safari par ...

at Rajgir in Indian state Bihar. Chief minister of Bihar

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

laid the foundation stone on 17 January 2017. The aim was to complete it by the end of 2019. It is being built over 480 acres of land and its estimated budget is RS 177 crores. Here the animals will not be in cages but they will be free to roam over a forest area and visitors will be allowed to watch them from a secured environment-friendly vehicle. It will be located between the Vaibhgiri and Songiri mountain in the forest area, about half a kilometre from the Rajgir-Gaya road which is adjacent to the Pant Wildlife Sanctuary at the foothills of Jethian hill.

References

{{reflist Wildlife sanctuaries in Bihar Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests Tourist attractions in Nalanda district 1978 establishments in Bihar Protected areas established in 1978