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Site description (2004 baseline):

Majathal Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Shimla and Solan districts, is part of the catchment area of the Sutlej river. It is bounded to the north by the Sutlej, and to the south by a mountain ridge. The Sanctuary comprises a short section of the southern slopes of the Sutlej Valley, with steep terrain. Places of religious interest include the Harsingh Temple (Singh et al. 1990). The Sanctuary may be one of the most important sites in Himachal Pradesh for Cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii, and the only site present within the Sutlej catchment. Seven species of Galliformes have been reported from this area (Mishra 1996). Chir Pine Pinus roxburghii and Ban Oak Quercus leucotrichophora forests, and subtropical Euphorbia scrub are the major vegetation types (Mishra 1996). The slopes are sparsely forested with Chir Pine and Ban Oak, and mostly dominated by grassy tracts, often extending continuously from the ridge-tops down to about 1,000 m (Garson 1983).

AVIFAUNA: Not much work has been done on the bird life of this interesting site, covering tracts of Himalayan Sub-tropical forest. Mishra (1996) during his studies on the Goral from November 1992 to May 1993, counted 106 species of birds, including the globally threatened Cheer Pheasant. He also recorded Kaleej Pheasant Lophura leucomelana and Koklass Pucrasia macrolopha. Recently, Shah et al. (2002) have worked on the Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus, a common Galliform. In this IBA, the main biome is Sino-Himalayan Subtropical Forest (Biome-8), which occurs between 1,000 to 2,000 m. Nine species of this of biome have been listed by Mishra (1996). None of them are of conservation concern. This IBA lies in the Western Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (EBA- 128). As we do not have a detailed checklist of this site, it is likely that there would be some more Restricted Range species, especially small forest birds, than we know as of now. More detailed work is needed on the bird fauna of this site. Presently, we consider this as a Data Deficient site.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: The mammalian fauna includes Leopard Panthera pardus, which is the top predator (Mishra 1993). Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Golden Jackal Canis aureus, Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, Himalayan Palm Civet Paguma larvata, Yellow-throated Marten Martes flavigula, and Jungle Cat Felis chaus are other carnivores. Sambar Cervus unicolor, Barking Deer Muntiacus muntjak, Goral Nemorhaedus goral and Wild Boar Sus scrofa represent the ungulates.

MAIN THREATS: Human settlements; Disturbance due to pilgrims; Tourism and recreation; Forest fire; Poaching.

According to Mishra (1996), 17 settlements with a population of about 650 inhabitants are present inside the Sanctuary. They have rights to cultivate, graze livestock, and collect fodder, timber, fuelwood and minor forest produce. Crop damage by ungulates, and livestock killing by Leopard and Black Bear create resentment against the Sanctuary among the villagers. Besides the local people, nomads also come during winter from the higher reaches to graze their livestock, which exerts further pressure on the limited resources of the Sanctuary. Graziers start forest fires to get better grass for livestock. A temple is located in the Sanctuary which attracts thousands of pilgrims. The state government has started a project to provide drinking water to 100 villages in the western part of the Sanctuary. One of the major threats is the establishment of a cement manufacturing plant just outside the Sanctuary. Charaching is quite common. Mishra (1996) found 39 gun licence holders, and many unlicenced guns. Ungulates and pheasants are their major targets, as they provide good meat for the table.

Key contributor: Charudutt Mishra.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Majathal Wildlife Sanctuary (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/majathal-wildlife-sanctuary-iba-india on 22/11/2024.