Sitabani Wildlife Reserve is a wildlife reserve in

Amgarhi Amgarhi is a village located in the periphery of Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India. Etymology Its name derives from its mango (''aam'') orchids. Geography It is located 15 km from Ramnagar, and can be accessed by forest road fro ...

, located in the

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

district of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is home to a variety of

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

, including

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

s, and over 500 species of native and

migrating birds Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

, that pass through the area throughout the year.

History

The wildlife reserve is named after

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

, the wife of Hindu god

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

, due to the belief that Sita and her sons Luv and Kush had spent some of her exile in this forest. Many local villagers were inducted and employed at the reserve by the founder

Abhishek Ray Abhishek Ray is an Indian film composer, playback singer, instrumentalist, music arranger, and producer working in Bollywood. He is known for having composed the music and done playback vocals for popular and award-winning Bollywood films such ...

, thereby generating revenue through Eco-tourism and creating a sustainable conservation area.

Animals

Being a part of the Trans-Himalayan birding corridor, the reserve gets both plain and mountain birds during latitudinal and attitudinal migration patterns. Some Himalayan animal species, like

Himalayan Black Bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear. It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thicker fur and smaller, whiter chest mark. The species is considered an ecological ind ...

Himalayan weasel The Siberian weasel or kolonok (''Mustela sibirica'') is a medium-sized weasel native to Asia, where it is widely distributed and inhabits various forest habitats and open areas. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Descr ...

, Yellow-throat Pine Marten,

Himalayan Goral The Himalayan goral (''Naemorhedus goral'') or the gray goral, is a bovid species native to the Himalayas. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because the population is thought to be declining significantly due to habitat loss an ...

, and

Himalayan Serow The Himalayan serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis thar''), also known as the thar ( , ), is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to the Himalayas. It was previously considered its own species, as ''Capricornis thar''. It is the official stat ...

also visit the reserve, especially during the colder months.

Indian leopard The Indian leopard (''Panthera pardus fusca'') is a subspecies of the leopard (''P. pardus''). It is widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. It is threatened by illegal trade of skins and body parts, and persecution due to human-leopard ...

s in this reserve inhabit the craggy cliffs and gorges to avoid interaction with their dominant predator, the Royal-Bengal Tiger. This tiger species prefers the thick forested valleys and lowlands. Herds of Asiatic Elephants pass through the reserve when migrating between the core and buffer areas of

Jim Corbett National Park Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named ''Hailey National Park'' after Willi ...

. Altitudinal and geographical variations and diverse flora, combined with direct connectivity with Jim Corbett National Park on one side and the Nainital Forest Division on the other, makes this reserve a natural tiger, leopard, and birding corridor of strategic conservation value.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* http://sitabani.business.site Tiger reserves of India Protected areas with year of establishment missing Wildlife sanctuaries in Uttarakhand Nainital district