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{{Short description|Wildlife sanctuary in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary
| alt_name = पाङ्लखा
| iucn_category = IV
| image = Landscape of Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary East Sikkim India 13.02.2016.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Landscape in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary
| image_size =
| map = India Sikkim#India
| relief = yes
| mapframe = Yes
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location in Sikkim, India
| map_width =
| location = [[Pakyong District]], [[Sikkim]]
| nearest_city = [[Rangpo]]
| coordinates = {{coord|27.34|N|88.76|E|type:forest|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref =
| area = {{cvt|124|km2}}
| established = 2002<ref>{{cite web |title=Wildlife Sanctuaries |url=http://wiienvis.nic.in/Database/wls_8230.aspx |website=wiienvis.nic.in |access-date=18 May 2021 |date=2021-04-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary–Zuluk Bedang Tso – Natu la Complex |url=http://sikkimforest.gov.in/docs/IBA/sk9.pdf |website=sikkimforest.gov.in |access-date=18 May 2021}}</ref>
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = [[Government of India]], [[Government of Sikkim]]
| url =
}}

'''Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary''' is a [[List of wildlife sanctuaries of India|wildlife sanctuary]] encompassing an area of {{cvt|124|km2}} in the [[Pakyong District]] of the Indian state of [[Sikkim]]. It was established in 2002 and includes the hamlets of [[Aritar]], Dakline Lingtam, Phadamchen, [[Dzuluk]], [[Gnathang Monastery]] Kupup.<ref name="sikenvis.nic.in">Wildlife Protected areas of Sikkim : http://www.sikenvis.nic.in/Database/Wildlife_785.aspx?format=Print</ref> It is about {{cvt|28|km}} east of [[Rorathang]] and about {{cvt|40|km}} by road from [[Rangpo]] city.

==Geography==
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2024}}
Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary lies at an elevation of {{cvt|1760|-|4390|m}}.<ref>Pangolakha WLS Boundary : http://www.sikenvis.nic.in/writereaddata/sd26.pdf</ref> Pangolakha range in the east separates Sikkim from its eastern neighboring country [[Bhutan]], whereas it is linked through forest patches to the south with Neora Valley National Park in West Bengal.
Some high altitude lakes are present there, including [[Lake Tsongmo]], which act as a biodiversity hotspot for migratory birds.<ref name="O'Neill_2019"/> Rivers and their tributaries from the north are frozen from December to March; whereas they all flow with an enormous volume of water during the rainy season from mid-April to mid-October. [[River Rangpo|Rangpo River]] and [[Jaldhaka River]] are the major rivers originating from the nearby lakes, which occur in this sanctuary.

==Biodiversity==
Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary supports a large variety of species, since it falls at the junction of the [[Palearctic realm]] and the [[Indomalayan realm]].<ref name="O'Neill_2019">{{cite journal |last1=O'Neill |first1=A.R.| date=2019 |title=Evaluating high-altitude Ramsar wetlands in the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |volume=20 |issue=e00715 |pages=19 |doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00715 |doi-access=free}}</ref> As a biogeographic province, it comes under 2C category.<ref name="sikenvis.nic.in"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=2002-05-09 |title=Notification|url=http://www.sikenvis.nic.in/writereaddata/sd26.pdf|access-date=2021-05-18|website=sikenvis.nic.in}}</ref>

===Fauna===
Birds in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary include [[kalij pheasant]], [[Oriental honey buzzard]], [[blood pheasant]], [[white-crested laughingthrush]], [[striated laughingthrush]], [[chestnut-crowned laughingthrush]], [[bar-throated minla]], [[red-tailed minla]], [[pied shrike-babbler|white-browed shrike babbler]], [[white-browed fulvetta]], [[rufous sibia]], [[whiskered yuhina]], [[stripe-throated yuhina]], [[rufous-vented yuhina]], [[brown dipper]], [[rusty-flanked treecreeper]], [[dark-rumped rosefinch]], [[little bunting]]. It is also home for some rarities like the [[speckled wood pigeon]] and [[bay woodpecker]].<ref name="O'Neill_2019"/>

The State Forest Department has set up Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) around all wildlife protected areas. In this IBA, EDCs have been set up in the villages of Mankhim, Dalepchand, Lingtam, Phadamchen, Zuluk and Gnathang.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary–Zuluk Bedang Tso – Natu la Complex|url=http://sikkimforest.gov.in/docs/IBA/sk9.pdf|access-date=2021-05-18|website=sikkimforest.gov.in}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary]]
* [[Gorumara National Park]]
* [[Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://sikkimforest.gov.in/ Forests, Environment & Wildlife Management Department | Government of Sikkim] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516222958/http://sikkimforest.gov.in/ |date=16 May 2014 }}

[[Category:Wildlife sanctuaries in Sikkim]]
[[Category:Pakyong district]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1999]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in Sikkim]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Sikkim]]

Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary - Revision history

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