Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary (18320)
India, Asia

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2005

National site name: Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary

Central coordinates: Latitude: 23.8333, Longitude: 93.2167

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 400 to 2141

Area of KBA (km²): 60.57033

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the eastern part of Mizoram, north of Murlen National Park (another IBA). The total area of the Sanctuary is 8,000 ha, and the elevation ranges from 400 m to 2,141 m. The second highest peak in Mizoram is in this IBA. Intact Tropical Evergreen and Sub-tropical Broadleaf Forests are found. This IBA is the habitat for many species of Indo-Malayan origin. The Sanctuary lies close to the Indo-Myanmar border and is significant because of its proximity to the Chin Hills. The nearest town is Ngopa.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas) KBA identified in the CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the Eastern Himalayas Hotspot (2005). Taxonomy, nomenclature and threat category follow the 2002 IUCN Red List.

Additional biodiversity: AVIFAUNA: Information on the avifauna of this Sanctuary is inadequate. The Sanctuary is close to the Murlen National Park, so most of the common species found in Murlen are also found here. This site falls in the Eastern Himalayas Endemic Bird Area in which 21 restricted range species have been identified. In the adjoining Murlem NP, two restricted range species (Grey Sibia Heterophasia gracilis and White-naped Yuhina Yuhina bakeri) were identified by Kaul et al. (2001). These species are likely to occur in this IBA also. As the habitat in Lengteng WLS is relatively intact, large numbers of Biome-8 (Sino-Himalayan Subtropical) and Biome-9 (Indo- Chinese Tropical Moist Forest) bird species are likely to occur, as they occur in the adjoining Murlem NP. There are cliffs, which are haunt of Dark-rumped Swift Apus acuticauda and also mamamls such as Goral Nemorhaedus goral. Four species of pheasants are found in this IBA: Grey Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron bicalcaratum, Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant Syrmaticus humiae and Kaleej Pheasant Lophura leucomelanos. Only Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant is globally threatened (BirdLife International 2001). Its status remains virtually unknown across its historic range in Myanmar, while hunting and habitat loss continue to be major threats throughout its range. According to Choudhury (2002), this bird is still widely distributed in Lengteng, above 850 m. In Mizoram, its habitat is largely secondary evergreen forest with grass. It occurs from Tropical Wet Evergreen Rain Forests to Subtropical Broadleaf Forests. Because of lower latitude in Mizoram, the tropical forest occurs up to 1500 m elevation. Between Lamzawl and Lengteng, Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant haunts the edges of abandoned jhum (shifting) cultivation (Choudhury 2002). Lengteng Willdife Sanctuary and Murlen National Park are perhaps the most important protected areas for this species in India (Choudhury, A. U. pers. comm. 2003). The Mountain Bamboo Partridge Bambusicola fytchii is very common, sometimes seen near villages also (Choudhury 2002). Lengteng is one of the last remaining strongholds of the Great Pied Hornbill Buceros bicornis in Mizoram. OTHER KEY FAUNA: Almost all mammal elements found in the forest of Mizoram are seen in Lengteng, such as Slow Loris Nycticebus coucang, Tiger Panthera tigris, Leopard Panthera pardus, Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis, Serow Nemorhaedus sumatraensis and Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus. Among the non-human primates, Stumptailed Macaque Macaca arctoides, Assamese Macaque M. assamensis, Hoolock Gibbon Hylobates hoolock and Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus are found. Asian Brown Tortoise Manouria emys is becoming rare due to over-harvesting (Choudhury 2004).

Habitats

Land use: agriculture | nature conservation and research | water management

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Forest	100

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: MAIN THREATS: Poaching; Tree felling; Jhum on fringes. The major problem of this Sanctuary is that the staff strength is very low, resulting in tree cutting and poaching on the fringes. Jhum cultivation is practiced all around the Sanctuary. Villagers burn the forests to clear land for cultivation. Sometimes, these fires spread to the Sanctuary. Charaching of large mammals and birds is a persistent problem. The original area of the Sanctuary was 12,000 ha but due to pressure from the community, it was reduced to 8,000 ha. The remaining area is equally rich with primary forest and efforts should be made to include the same in the Sanctuary (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2003).

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Biological resource use	Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Intentional use (species being assessed is the target)	Ongoing
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting	Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest]	Ongoing

Additional information

References: BirdLife International (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K. Choudhury, A. U. (2002) Survey of Hume’s Pheasant in northeastern India. Technical Report no. 5. Rhino Foundation for Nature in NE India, Guwahati Pp. 27. Choudhury, A. U. (2004) Further Chelonian records for Mizoram in the Northeastern India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 101(1): 165-166. Kaul, R., Khaling, S., Ghose, D., Khan, S. and Bhattacharjee, J. (2001) Survey for Manipur Bush Quail and Hume’s Pheasant in North-East India. Report submitted to the Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai. Pp. 40.