19/10/2022
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Singalila National Park is a national park of India located on the Singalila Ridge at an altitude of more than 7000 feet above sea level, in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It is well known for the trekking route to Sandakphu that runs through it.
Singalila National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Vast green meadows and hills in Singalila National Park.
Location-Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Nearest city-Maneybhanjang
Coordinates-27°07′N 88°04′E
Area-78.6
Established-1986
Governing body-Government of India, Government of West Bengal
The park was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1986, and was made an Indian national park in 1992. The region had long been used as the trekking route from Manebhanjang to Sandakphu (the highest peak of West Bengal) and Phalut.
The 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. The 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.
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Because of the park's range in altitude, it includes three separate biomes, ranging from subalpine to subtropical, and three corresponding ecoregions:
The Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests ecoregion, of the temperate coniferous forests biome
Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests ecoregion, of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome
Himalayan subtropical pine forests ecoregion, of the subtropical coniferous forest biome
The subtropical biome roughly exists in the altitude range of 1800 to 3000 m, and the temperate biome exists in the altitude range of 3000 m to 4500 m.
Typical high altitude vegetation along the trek route from Sandakphu to Phalut
Thick bamboo, oak, magnolia and rhododendron forest between 2000 and 3600 m cover the Singalila Ridge. There are two seasons of wildflower bloom - one in spring (March and April) when the rhododendrons bloom, and another in the post-monsoon season (around October), when the lower forests bloom (Primula, Geranium, Saxifraga, Bistort, Senecio, Cotoneaster and numerous orchids). Sandakphu is known as the " due to the large concentration of Himalayan cobra lilies (Arisaema) which grow there.
The plant life has been surveyed in 2001.[1]
Mammals: The park has a number of small mammals including the red panda, leopard cat, barking deer, yellow-throated marten, wild boar, pangolin and pika. Larger mammals include the Himalayan black bear, leopard, clouded leopard, serow and takin. Tigers occasionally wander into the area, but do not have a large enough prey base to make residence in these forests feasible.
: The park is a birder's delight with over 120 species recorded including many rare and exotic species like the Himalayan Vulture, scarlet minivet, kalij pheasant, blood pheasant, satyr tragopan, brown and fulvous parrotbills, rufous-vented tit, and Old World babblers like the fire-tailed myzornis and the golden-breasted fulvetta. The park is also on the flyway of many migratory birds.
: The endangered Himalayan newt frequents the region and congregates around the lakes of Jore Pokhri and Sukhiapokhri and nearby lakes to reproduce. Jore Pokhri and Sukhiapokhri are within 20 km of the park boundary and are protected wildlife sanctuaries.
: Singalila National Park is well connected by road. But the roads are circular and the journey can feel like wave motion.
The road route from Siliguri
Siliguri > Sukna > Rangtong > Kurseong> Tung > Sonada> Ghoom> Maneybhanjang.
: The nearest railway station of is Ghoom Railway Station 31 km from Tonglu (entry point to the Singalila National Park).
: Singalila National Park is located 13 km from Bagdogra Airport in Bagdogra. That is the nearest airport, but by road it is less than 100 km and takes 3 to 4 hours.
