Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary (also spelled Phipsoo) is a protected area of about 269 square kilometres in southern Bhutan, straddling Sarpang and Dagana districts on the Indian border. It is the only place in Bhutan with natural sal forest and a wild population of chital deer, and forms part of a transboundary conservation landscape with Royal Manas National Park.
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
See also
Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary
Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in eastern Bhutan, covering 273.02 square kilometres in the Samdrup Jongkhar district. Established in 1993, the sanctuary protects a diverse range of subtropical and tropical ecosystems and provides important habitat for Asian elephants, gaur, pygmy hog, and the critically endangered white-bellied heron.
places·5 min readSakteng Wildlife Sanctuary
Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in eastern Bhutan established in 2003, covering 740.6 square kilometres of temperate and alpine ecosystems in the Trashigang and Samdrup Jongkhar districts. It is notable as the only known wildlife sanctuary in the world created partly to protect the habitat of the migoi, the Bhutanese equivalent of the yeti, and is home to the semi-nomadic Brokpa people.
places·5 min readNabji Trail
A community-based ecotourism trek through Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park in south-central Bhutan, passing through Monpa and Kheng villages between 1,000 and 1,500 metres elevation.
places·4 min readChorten Kora
Chorten Kora is a large Buddhist stupa located in the Trashi Yangtse district of eastern Bhutan, modeled after the Boudhanath Stupa in Nepal. Built in 1740 by Lama Ngawang Loday, it is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in eastern Bhutan and the centrepiece of a vibrant annual festival.
places·4 min readGasa Tshachu (hot springs)
Gasa Tshachu is a group of natural hot springs in Gasa Dzongkhag in northern Bhutan, near the Mo Chhu river below Gasa Dzong. Long believed to relieve a range of ailments, it is among the most visited tshachu (medicinal hot springs) in the country and a popular domestic pilgrimage and wellness destination. The springs were destroyed by a flood in 2021 and reopened in 2023 after reconstruction.
places·2 min readTrashiyangtse District
Trashiyangtse District (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་གཡང་རྩེ་རྫོང་ཁག) is a sparsely populated district in north-eastern Bhutan, covering roughly 1,438 square kilometres along the border with the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Carved out of Trashigang in 1992, it is known for the eighteenth-century stupa of Chorten Kora, the black-necked cranes that winter at Bomdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, and a living tradition of wood-turning that produces the lacquered bowls called dapa.
places·4 min read
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