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Site description (2004 baseline):

Sonai-Rupai was declared as a Game Reserve in 1934, because of its rich biodiversity that included the Indian One-horned Rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis, and reported populations of Wild Buffalo Bubalus arnee (= bubalis). Both these species are, however, locally extinct from this sanctuary. Located about 40 km northwest of Tezpur town, in the district of Sonitpur, in northern Assam, Sonai-Rupai has a number of threatened birds that got little attention earlier. These are the White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata, Bengal Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis, Swamp Francolin Francolinus gularis and the occasional Rufous-necked Hornbill Aceros nipalensis (Choudhury 2000, 2002). This sanctuary is on the interstate border with Arunachal Pradesh. Sonai-Rupai was earlier part of Charduar Reserve Forest. The rivers Gabharu, Gelgeli, Sonai and Rupai flow through the Sanctuary. An added advantage is the presence of Doimara RF and beyond this the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary across the border in Arunachal Pradesh, covering about 50,000 ha. For many species of fauna, it is one large wilderness area. The terrain in Sonai-Rupai is flat and gently sloping towards the south, typical of bhabar and terai areas. Towards north, promontories of the small hills of Arunachal Himalaya can be seen. Most of Sonai-Rupai is tree forest, but there are large patches of grassland.

AVIFAUNA: Preliminary surveys reveal about 160 species of birds, but detailed studies could yield more than 250 (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2002). During the late 1980s, Rahmani et al. (1990) did surveys in search of the Bengal Florican. They could not sight the Bengal Florican, but found that nearly 200 ha of the Gelgeli grassland is one of the best grasslands of its kind and quite suitable for the florican. The vegetation compares well with other ideal florican habitats in Manas, Orang and Kaziranga. Choudhury (2002) also could not find the Bengal Florican either, but says “perhaps a few birds remain’’. However its presence was confirmed recently in this IBA (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2004). As the forest of Sonai-Rupai is continuous with Doimara Reserve Forest and then Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, the bird life is extremely rich. Rufous-necked Hornbill Aceros nipalensis can be seen, along with forest species such as Grey Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron bicalcaratum, Himalayan Flameblack Dinopium shorii, Slaty Blue Flycatcher Ficedula tricolor, Maroon Oriole Oriolus traillii, Black-winged Cuckoo Shrike Coracina melaschistos, Small Niltava Niltava macgrigoriae, Black-backed Forktail Enicurus immaculatus, Slatybacked Forktail E. schistaceus, Sultan Tit Melanochlora sultanea, White-throated Bulbul Alophoixus flaveolus, Slaty-bellied Tesia Tesia olivea, Black-chinned Yuhina Yuhina nigrimenta, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush Garrulax moniliger, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush G. pectoralis, Rufous-necked Laughingthrush G. ruficollis, Black-throated Sunbird Aethopyga saturata and Streaked Spiderhunter Arachnothera magna. Detailed investigation on the bird life has not been done in this site, so we do not know much about the Restricted Range species. The site lies at the interface of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (Biome-12) and Indo-Chinese Tropical Moist Forest (Biome-9), and at the edge of Eastern Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (EBA-130: Stattersfield et al. 1998), so it is likely that many more species of conservation concern are found here. Presently, we have included this site only on the basis of presence of threatened species (A1) criteria.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary has all the major mammal fauna present in Evergreen, Semi-evergreen and Moist Deciduous forests of Assam. Its continuity with the extensive forests of Arunachal Pradesh has enhanced its mammalian and avian diversity. It harbours the big four, i.e. Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Tiger Panthera tigris, Leopard P. pardus, and Gaur Bos frontalis. Only One-horned Rhinoceros and Wild Buffalo are missing. Among primates it has Assamese Macaque Macaca assamensis and Rhesus Macaque M. mulatta. The smaller carnivores are Jungle Cat Felis chaus, Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis, Golden Jackal Canis aureus, Large Indian Civet Viverra zibetha and Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica. Sambar Cervus unicolor, Hog Deer Axis porcinus and Barking Deer Muntiacus muntjak are found in this IBA.

The reptiles and amphibians found in Sonai-Rupai are not well recorded.

MAIN THREATS: Politically organized encroachment; Felling of trees; Grazing; Illegal fishing; Occasional poaching.

Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary has not received the kind of attention that such a valuable wilderness area deserves. It has all the potential to become one of the most important sanctuaries of northeast India. If Gelgeli grassland is protected and managed, the Bengal Florican would perhaps return. It can also serve as one of the reintroduction sites for the highly endangered Pygmy Hog Sus salvanius. This site is under grave threat from potential encroachers who have already cleared the adjacent Balipara and Charduar Reserve Forests. Already, a part has been encroached since the early 1990s. Even the slightest opportunity given to the encroachers due to slackness in administration, may put the entire sanctuary in jeopardy. Hence, the site is in need of high conservation attention. The problem has been aggravated due to insurgency as well as a plan to convert some of the open areas into a firing range. Such plans should be dropped once and for all.

Key contributors: Anwaruddin Choudhury, Goutam Narayan and Asad R. Rahmani.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sonai-rupai-wildlife-sanctuary-iba-india on 22/12/2024.