Nature and Wildlife in Agartala

Agartala, the capital of Tripura, is abundant in scenic beauty. Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Agartala is known for its flora and fauna. Tourists can also visit
Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary, Rowa Wildlife Sanctuary and Jampui hill located near Agartala known for exquisite scenic beauty. 

Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary

The Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary is located around 35 kms from Agartala in a place named Bishalgarh. The sanctuary spreads across an area of 18.53 sq kms. It was incepted in the year 1972 and was established in the year 1987 as a measure to protect the wildlife of the region.

Terrain:

The terrain of the sanctuary is bound by lush greenery on all sides and lakes. The terrain is beautiful year round except for the two humid summer months of March and April. The beautiful rubber plantations with the lakes and the greenery present a beautiful sight of nature’s beauty to the visitors.

Biodiversity:

Flora:
The sanctuary is rich in vegetation. There are Agar and Nageshwar flowers found along with around 456 species of plants including dicotyledons and monocotyledons. The chief trees found in this sanctuary are Sal, Garjan, Chamal, Kanak, Kurcha, Pichla, Awla, Bahera, Amlakhi, Hargaja, Bamboo, among others. Rauwalfia serpentine and other endemic species are the important floral species found here. The sanctuary also has large amount of timber biomass in it.

Fauna:
The sanctuary is a home to the rare species of crab eating mongoose, primates like spectacled langur, Rhesus macaque, capped langur, pigtailed macaque, animals like leopard, jungle fowl, barking deer, clouded leopard, wild pig, civets and so on. There are five species of primates found in this park. Presbytis or the spectacled langur an endemic species of Tripura is found in abundant here.

There are also migratory birds like the whistling teal, open billed stork, white ibis which arrive here during migration. The sanctuary boasts of about 150 species of birds which fly in during winter. The Sepahijala Lake can be seen with birds like moorhen, water cork, cranes flocking and floating in during the rainy and winter seasons.

Attractions:

There is a botanical garden and a zoological park in the sanctuary. The zoological park is divided into five different sections namely carnivores, reptiles, primates, aviary and ungulate section having different species of each section. The Sepahijala Zoological Park came into existence initially with the setting up of one deer park to protect the land from encroachment. The Botanical Garden has various species of trees and plants along with 60 species of medicinal plants.

There are many lakes in the sanctuary like the Amrit Sagar and Abasarika. There are boating facilities for the tourists to enjoy. There is also a toy train which takes around and deep into the sanctuary apart from the joy rides on elephants for the tourists. The beautiful rubber plantations in the sanctuary with the lake beyond also provide a beautiful picnic spot for tourists.
For the tourists there is a forest ‘Dak’ bungalow and cottages inside the sanctuary.

Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary

Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the south east corner of Tripura. This sanctuary was established in 1988 and spreads across an area of 390 sq kms. It is located in the hilly terrains and is known for the lush greenery. The sanctuary is located around 100 kms from Agartala.

The name of the sanctuary has been derived from the Gumti River that originates from Dumboor in India and enters Bangladesh where it is known by the name of Padma.

There is a vast water reservoir near the sanctuary. This water reservoir spreads almost 300 sq kms of an area and attracts several resident and migratory water birds.

Biodiversity:

Flora:
This sanctuary is a home to many floral species of medical, therapeutically and botanical species. Many botanical researchers visit the sanctuary to have a look and study the different species.

Fauna:
There are a number of animal species in this sanctuary like the elephants, bison, sambar, barking deer, wild goat and sarow. There are also different residential and migratory birds like the lesser adjutant stork, darter and so on.

Sukh Sagar

Sukh Sagar in the past it used to be a lake, but after being misused as a dumping ground for waste and garbage for long time it  got converted into a bushy wet land. Now it has been converted into green paddy field. Earlier Sukh Sagar used to extend across the southern end of Udaippur town to Matabari.  It was the huge of all water bodies of Udaipur. Ashok Bose says the original extent of the Sukh Sagar lake was probably close upon 20 sq miles.