Gorumara
National Park is located in the Dooars (rolling
hill slopes) region of Jalpaiguri district
in West
Bengal. This small forest area famous
for its natural population of the Great
Indian one horned Rhinoceros was declared
a wildlife sanctuary in the year 1949.
Later in the year 1992, it was established
as a National Park, comprising 80 km of
diverse forests.
The
dooars lying in the Himalayan foothills
has great natural beauty and is home to
some of West Bengal's
most varied flora and fauna. Gorumara
park located on the bank of rivers Murti
and Raidak has vegetation of riverine grasslands
interspersed with savannah woodlands. Much
of this forest is moist deciduous and sal
(shorea robusta) is the most common and
valuable tree. Teak, Simul, siris, Khair
are also found here. The park is breathtaking
with its rivers and mountain ranges.
Besides
the one horned rhinoceros, the fauna of
the park include Indian Elephant, Indian
Bison, leopard, different species of deer,
turtles, pythons, monkeys etc. and more
than 200 species of birds. The park
is a birdwatcher's paradise with beautiful
birds like Indian pied hornbill, Woodpeckers,
Sunbird, fly catcher, Minivet, Drongo, Pheasants
and many more migratory birds especially
in winter. Brahmany duck is a regular visitor
here and the birds can be watched from Suksukia,
a bird watching point inside the park.
Lataguri
a small town adjacent to the park is the
entry point. There are watch towers for
viewing the animals inside the park. They
are Jatraprasad Watch tower (named in memory
of a legendary elephant of that name), Rhino
observation point in front of the Gorumara
forest bungalow, Old Khunia Watch Tower
near the Murti forest bungalow and Suksukia
Bird watching Point. Rhino observation point
is the best place to observe wild animals
like rhino, elephant, bison and deer as
they regularly come to the salt reservoir
just below the tower. From Gorumara it is
only a two hours ride to Jaldapara wild
life sanctuary which is also located in
the dooars. |
| General
Information : |
| Best
time to Visit |
:
November to April, The park is closed
from mid June to mid September |
| Accommodation |
:
Forest Bungalows |
| Nearest
town |
:
Lataguri |
| How
to get there |
Air
: Bagdogra is the nearest Airport (Siliguri
to Bagdogra 13 km.)
Rail : Nearest Railway Station is
Madarihat only 7 kms from the Sanctuary. The
park is accessible from the rail stations
at Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Koch
Bihar from where one can hire a jeep / car
through National Highway 31 to Lataguri,
the gateway to the park.
Road : National highway 31
which connects Siliguri and Guwahati passes
through Lataguri (about 75km from Siliguri),
Chalsa and Nagrakata near the park. North
Bengal State Transport Corporation Buses,
Bhutan Govt. Buses, Mini Buses and Private
Buses are available from Siliguri to Alipurduar
via Madarihat. The Routes are (a) Darjeeling-Siliguri-Jalpaiguri
(via New Teesta Bridge) – Mainaguri-Dhupguri-Gairkata-Birpara-Madarihat
(140 miles or 224 kms.) (b) Darjeeling-
Siliguri- Sevoke- Bagrakote- Mal- Chalsa-
Nagrakata- Binnaguri – Birpara - Madarihat
(214 kms.). Journey time from Siliguri about
4 hours. |
|
