Dalma WildLife Sanctuary
Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, located around the Dalma Hills 10 km from Jamshedpur City in Jharkhand, was inaugurated by Sanjay Gandhi in 1975. The vast Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary begins from Chandil to 40 km east and sprawls around 195 sq km on paper. The Wildlife Sanctuary offers shelter to Elephants, Barking Deer, Sloth Bear and Porcupines as the major inhabitants. Forest cover has been uncovered up to 90% due to the selective pilferage by timber mafia for years.
Hazaribagh Wild Life Sanctuary
Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary, around 55 miles (89 km) north of Ranchi in Jharkhand, was established in 1955. At an average height of 615 mtrs (2,018 ft) from the sea level, Hazaribagh spreads in an area of 184 sq km (71 sq miles) in a low hilly terrain. The wildlife sanctuary houses leopards, panthers, wild boars, tigers, sambar, nilgai, chital, peafowl, sloth bears, black bears, hyenas and pigeons.
Betla National Park
Betla National Park, lying in the Chota Nagpur Plateau of the Palamu District in Jharkhand, possesses a big range of wild life. Initially it consisted of 1,026 sq km of the Palamau Tiger Reserve, and later an additional 226 sq km in 1989 and another 63 sq km of the Mahuadar Wolf Sanctuary was added to the sanctuary. Betla is among the first national parks in India to become a tiger reserve under Project Tiger. Elephants are also found here in large number.
Saranda - The Sal Forest
Saranda Forest, a dense forest in the hilly region of West Singhbhum District in Jharkhand, literally means seven hundred hills. Sprawling around an area of 820 sq km, the region was once the private hunting reserve of the Singh Deo family, the former royal family of Saraikela. In the core of the forest, Thalkobad is a picturesque village at an altitude of 550 mtrs (1,800 ft), around 46 km (29 miles) from Manoharpur and around 160 km (99 miles) from Jamshedpur. The area, comprising of iron ore mining towns such as Gua, Chiria, Kiriburu and Noamundi, is inhabited by Ho people.
Palamau Tiger Reserve
Palamau Tiger Reserve, among the nine original tiger reserves in India, forms part of Betla National Park, in Palamu District in Jharkhand. Under the Indian Forests Act, this area was set aside as a protected land in 1947. Becoming the tiger reserve in 1974, Palamau Tiger Reserve spreads in an area of 1,014 sq km (392 sq miles) with a core area of 414 sq km and a buffer area of 600 sq km. Before getting the identity of a reserve, the land was utilized for cattle grazing and camping, and the area was highly prone to jungle fire.
