Borail Wildlife Sanctuary

Borail Wildlife Sanctuary
Borail Wildlife Sanctuary located in Assam houses a variety of animals and birds. The sanctuary is visited by many tourists from different places.

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Borail Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam Spread across an area of 326.24 sq. km Borail Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the largest sanctuaries in Assam and is famous for Tropical Moist Evergreen and Semi-Evergreen Forests. Here, one will come across many species of mammals including Chinese pangolin, Flying Fox, Slow Loris, Stump-Tailed Macaque, Rhesus Macaque, Capped langur, Hoolock Gibbon and Himalayan Black Bear among others.

Location of Borail Wildlife Sanctuary
Borail Reserve is located in the southern part of Assam, India in Cachar and Dima Hasao districts and lies between 24 degree 5553 to 25 degree 0552 North latitude and 92 degree 2740 to 93 degree 0430 East longitude. Altitude ranges between 55-1000 m above sea level. The Borail Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the North Cachar RF and Borail RF. The sanctuary covers an area of 326.24 sq. km. Its rich vegetation plays a crucial part in providing a perfect ecosystem to this forest. Borail Wildlife Sancturary is located on a hilly terrain with many streams rivulets and water pits. This forest is located on the highest altitude among all the forests of Assam. Some area of the sanctuary is more than 1500 meters from sea level.

Borail Wildlife Sanctuary is a combination Borail Reserve Forest and North Cachar Reserve Forest, which were together upgraded to Borail Wildlife Sanctuary in June 2004. The Borail Wildlife Sanctuary is under the administrative control of the Southern Assam Forest Circle, Silchar, and consists of Borail Reserve Forest, which is part of the Cachar Forest Division (East Block) and North Cachar Reserve Forest, part of the Karimgunj Forest Division (West Block).

Borail Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam Geography of Borail Wildlife Sanctuary
There are major rivers flowing through Borail Wildlife sanctuary are the Jatinga, Daloo, Kayong, Gumra and Boleswar. The sanctuary is characterized by undulating hills having altitudinal range of less than 30 to more than 1867 meters. Geologically, the soils are sandy, stony to clayey. The area is one of the richest treasure houses of flora as well as fauna due to its unique geographical position, diverse landscapes, wide range of hysiographic conditions and high precipitation.

Climate of Borail Wildlife Sanctuary
The average annual rainfall in Borail Wildlife Sanctuary is 2500-4000 mm and temperature ranges from 9.2 degree C to 36.2 degree C, respectively. The humidity ranges from 62% to 83%. The best time to visit this sanctuary is from the month of October to March. The sanctuary consists of the North cachar reserve forest and Borail protected forest, classified as tropical wet evergreen and dry forests.

Flora of Borail Wildlife Sanctuary
Trees and lianas were inventorized in Borail Wildlife Sanctuary which revealed the occurrence of 112 and 23 species of trees and lianas respectively. Apart from animals and birds the sanctuary is also rich in vegetation. Borail Wildlife Sanctuary comprises of Tropical Moist Evergreen and semi Evergreen Forest. Thick bamboo forest and grassland are also seen in this sanctuary. Due to the ideal climate condition and suitable geographical location, different species of orchids are commonly seen in this forest.

Tree, shrub and lianas species form a thick vegetation of the sanctuary.Forest floor is enriched by many herbaceous species. The main secondary landscape elements are cultivated flatland, extensive bamboo brakes, tree plantations (Teak and Sal), secondary and disturbed forest (betel-vine plantation), and village gardens including Areca nut plantations.

The sanctuary also harbors a vast amount of floristic diversity e.g. Ornithochilus cacharensis- an epiphytic orchid species, Larsenianthus assamensis- a terrestrial zingiber species, Diospyros cacharensis- a small deciduous tree belonging to family Ebenaceae and Alseodaphne keenanii- a large tree belonging to family Lauraceae. These all are endemic to north-east India.

Borail Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam Fauna of Borail Wildlife Sanctuary
Borail Wildlife Sanctuary houses a variety of animals and birds. It serves as an ideal place for both mammals and reptiles. The sanctuary houses the world`s most venomous snake, King Cobra. Other common reptile species that are found here are Rock python, Red snake, Green Pit viper etc. Two endangered species of tortoise - Brown hill tortoise, Monitor Lizard and Asian Leaf turtle are also found here.

The Borail Wildlife Sanctuary provides shelter to mammals like Flying fox, Slow Loris, Golden cat, Jungle wild dog, Barking Deer, Giant squirrel, Porcupine, Clouded leopard, Leopard, Hoolock Gibbon, Hog-badger, Himalayan Black Dear, Capped Langur, Sambar, Fishing cat, Yellow-throated marten, Capped langur, Wild pig, Serow, Pigtailed Macaque, Stump-tailed macaque, Assamese macaque, Rhesus macaque etc.

Borail Wildlife Sanctuary is a house of various species of birds too like Lesser Adjutant Stork, White-backed Vulture, Slender-billed Vulture, White cheeked Hill Partridge, Mountain Bamboo partridge, Khaleej Pheasant, Grey Peacock-Pheasant, Rufus necked Hornbill, Wreathed Hornbill, Great Pied Hornbill etc.

Visiting Information
The sanctuary can be reached by a flight to Silchar (Kumbirgram) Airport which is only 40 km away. Visitors can also travel by road from the town of Karimganj which is also 40 km away.