Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary

Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary (also spelled Phipsoo) is a protected area of approximately 269 square kilometres in southern Bhutan, spanning western Sarpang District and south-eastern Dagana District along the border with the Indian state of West Bengal. One of the smaller of Bhutan's protected areas, it is biologically distinctive out of all proportion to its size.^[1]

History

The area was first designated a Reserved Forest in 1974 and was upgraded to a wildlife sanctuary in 1993, as Bhutan formalised its network of protected areas.^[1]

Ecology

Phibsoo is the only protected area in Bhutan that contains natural sal (Shorea robusta) forest, and the only one with a wild population of chital, the spotted deer (Axis axis) — two features that set it apart from every other reserve in the country. It also shelters tropical species rare in Bhutan, including Asian elephant, gaur and the endemic golden langur.^[2]

The sanctuary is linked to Royal Manas National Park and Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park through biological corridors, forming part of the larger transboundary conservation landscape of the eastern Himalayan foothills.^[2]

References

1. "Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary." Wikipedia.
2. "Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary." WWF Bhutan.