__NOTOC__ The Torsa Strict Nature Reserve (officially Jigme Khesar Strict Nature Reserve) in

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

covers 609.51 square kilometres in

Haa District Haa District ( Dzongkha: ཧཱ་རྫོང་ཁག; Wylie: ''Haa rzong-khag;'' alternative spellings include "Ha") is one of the 20 dzongkhag or districts comprising Bhutan. An alternative name for the district is "Hidden-Land Rice Vall ...

, occupying most of its area. Founded along with other national parks in 1993 by decision of the royal government, It borders

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

to the west and is connected to

Jigme Dorji National Park Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP), named after the late Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, is the second-largest National Park of Bhutan. History It was established in 1974 and stretches over an area of 4316 km2, thereby spanning all three climate z ...

via a "biological corridor." Torsa SNR contains the westernmost temperate forests of Bhutan, from broadleaf forests to alpine meadows and the small lakes of Sinchulungpa, at altitudes ranging from to . Like Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary, Torsa SNR has no resident human population.

Flora and fauna

This diverse ecosystem, home to various endangered species such as the

Tibetan snowcock The Tibetan snowcock (''Tetraogallus tibetanus'') is a bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. This species is found in high-altitude regions of the Western Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, where i ...

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

and

rufous-necked hornbill The rufous-necked hornbill (''Aceros nipalensis'') is a species of hornbill in Bhutan, northeastern India, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is locally extinct in Nepal due to hunting and significant los ...

s, also grows in the reserve the only endemic poppy, the white poppy.

Rivers

The Amo Chu river that flows in from Tibet's

Chumbi Valley The Chumbi Valley, called Dromo or Tromo in Tibetan, is a valley in the Himalayas that projects southwards from the Tibetan plateau, intervening between Sikkim and Bhutan. It is coextensive with the administrative unit Yadong County in the T ...

is called Torsa Chu after it enters the Torsa SNR.

Notes

References

Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests Protected areas of Bhutan Haa District Important Bird Areas of Bhutan {{Asia-protected-area-stub

Flora and fauna

Rivers

See also

Notes

References