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Pualreng Wildlife Sanctuary

Pualreng Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in the Kolasib district in the Indian state of Mizoram. It was notified on 29 July 2004 and it covers approximately 50 km² of tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forest in the northeastern hill ranges.

Geography and climate

The sanctuary ranges up to 750 m above sea level and receives 2,000–3,900 mm of annual rainfall. Summer temperatures reach 20–30 °C, while winters drop to 10–20 °C.

Biodiversity

Pualreng’s forests support a rich assemblage of mammals including hoolock gibbon (<i>Hoolock hoolock</i>), slow loris (<i>Nycticebus</i> sp.), common langur (<i>Semnopithecus</i> sp.), Himalayan black bear (<i>Ursus thibetanus</i>), leopard (<i>Panthera pardus</i>), sambar (<i>Rusa unicolor</i>), barking deer (<i>Muntiacus muntjak</i>), binturong (<i>Arctictis binturong</i>) and Chinese pangolin (<i>Manis pentadactyla</i>).

Over 100 bird species have been recorded, notably Great Hornbill (<i>Buceros bicornis</i>), Wreathed Hornbill (<i>Rhyticeros undulatus</i>), Pied Hornbill (<i>Anthracoceros albirostris</i>), kalij pheasant (<i>Lophura leucomelanos</i>), Bhutan peacock-pheasant (<i>Polyplectron bicalcaratum</i>) and red junglefowl (<i>Gallus gallus</i>).

A 2021 study on Reptiles & Amphibians documented interspecific amplexus between two frog species (Polypedates teraiensis and Hydrophylax leptoglossa), underscoring the sanctuary’s amphibian diversity.

Conservation and threats

A 2022 remote-sensing assessment revealed a >10% decline in forest cover (≈5.2 km²) from 2006–2018 due to illegal clearing, grazing, and reservoir submergence. In November 2024, a joint operation seized smoked wild-animal meat in the sanctuary, leading to convictions under the Wildlife Protection Act.

References