Singalila National Park is a national park located in the hilly terrain of the "Crown of Bengal". It is located on the Singalila Ridge at an altitude of more than 7000 feet above sea level. Singalila National Park is well known for the trekking route to Sandakphu Peak, the highest peak of West Bengal that runs through it.
Singalila National Park was declared a wildlife sanctuary in the year 1986. Singalila National Park was made an Indian National Park in the year 1992. Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary had long been used as the trekking route from Manebhanjang to Sandakphu and Phalut Peak, situated at an elevation of 3600 metres above mean sea level and it is termed as the second highest peak of West Bengal.
Singalila National Park or Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Darjeeling subdivision of Darjeeling district, West Bengal. Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary is bordered on the north by the state of Sikkim and on the west by the country of Nepal, a neighbouring country of India.
Singalila National Park or Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the Eastern Himalayas. The Singalila Ridge runs roughly through the North to South. After that it separates Himalayan West Bengal from the other Eastern Himalayan ranges to the west of it. The two highest peaks of West Bengal, Sandakphu peak (3630 m) and Phalut peak (3600 m), are located on the ridge and inside Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary. The River Rammam and River Sirikhola flow through Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary.
Singalila National Park has no significant history of human settlement. However, small settlements have grown up along the trekking route to Sandakphu and Phalut. There is a reasonably large village at Kala Pokhri, around the lake of the same name. Singalila Ridge was used as an approach route by the first documented mountaineering team which unsuccessfully attempted to climb Kanchenjunga in 1905. The team was led by Jules Jacot-Guillarmod and the famous occultist Aleister Crowley. Singalila National Park or Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary falls in the Indo-Malaya Eco-Zone.
In Singalila National Park or Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary, there one can find the vast array of flora and fauna. Some of the plants and trees are bamboo, oak, magnolia and rhododendron forest between 2000 and 3600 m cover the Singalila Ridge. Primula, Geranium, Saxifraga, Bistort, Senecio, Cotoneaster and numerous orchids also grow in this region. Sandakphu Peak is known as the "Mountain Of Poisonous Plants" due to the large concentration of Himalayan Cobra Lilies which is known as Arisaema which grow there.
Singalila National Park or Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary has a number of small mammals including the Red Panda, Leopard Cat, Barking Deer, Yellow-throated Marten, Wild Boar, Pangolin and the Pika. The larger mammals include the Himalayan Black Bear, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Serow and Takin. Royal Bengal Tiger occasionally wander into the area, but do not have a large enough prey base to make residence in these forests feasible.
Singalila National Park or Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary is delighted with 120 species of birds. These are recorded including many rare and exotic species like the Scarlet Minivet, Kalij Pheasant, Blood Pheasant, Satyr Tragopan, Brown and Fulvous Parrot bills, Rufous-vented Tit and Old World babblers like the Fire-tailed Myzornis and the Golden-breasted Fulvetta. Singalila National Park is also on the flyway of many wandering birds.