Told in the hills
From a reserved forest to India's best-run park
Gorumara's forests were reserved by the British in the late nineteenth century, mainly for sal timber, while much of the land around them was being cleared for tea gardens. Hunting parties came here for gaur, tiger and rhino through the early twentieth century. In 1949 the forest was declared a wildlife sanctuary, chiefly to protect its small rhino population, which had been reduced by hunting and the loss of grassland to farming.
For decades the sanctuary was little known outside North Bengal. Upgraded to a national park in 1992, it became famous through its watchtower system and the eco-development committees that employ local villagers as guides, cooks and dancers. In 2009 the ministry ranked it the best protected area in the country. The March 2025 census put Gorumara's rhinos at about 61, with the range of the count between 58 and 63.
Pinned to the board
Did you know
Gorumara was a wildlife sanctuary from 1949 and was given national park status on 31 January 1992.
The March 2025 rhino census estimated about 61 one-horned rhinos in Gorumara, between 58 and 63 animals.
The park records about 50 mammal species and roughly 194 bird species, including great and wreathed hornbills.
