Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary

Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary is in North East Bhutan.

Understand

Covering much of Trashi Yangtse district, this 1,550 km² reserve provides sanctuary to rare animals such as blue sheep, snow leopards, red pandas, musk deer and Himalayan black bears.

History

The Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1995 in order to protect large areas of virtually untouched Eastern Himalayan ecosystems ranging from warm broadleaved forest to alpine scree slopes. It partly overlaps with the earlier Kulong Chhu National Park which mainly covered alpine and subalpine habitats. A park manager and staff were appointed in 1998. The first management plan was produced in 2001.

Landscape

Altitudes in the sanctuary range from 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in the south to over 6,400 m (21,000 ft) in the north. The northern parts include glaciers, snow peaks, scree slopes, alpine pastures and scrub and glacial lakes and valleys. The central parts include ridges and valleys covered in scrubland, conifer forest and broadleaved forest. The southern and lower part consist more ridges, valleys and river gorges. Most are covered in broadleaved forest. Flatter areas have often been cleared for agricultural land and villages.

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