Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for Indian one horned rhino.A bird watcher's paradise,the place is situated in the foothills of eastern Himalaya.The river Torsha flows through this rain forest Santuary which is almost covered with tall grass.Jaldapara is almost 60kms from the princely district of Cooch Behar and about 55kms from the sub-divisional town of Alipurduar.
Wild life lovers can experience Elephant ride deep inside the forest,alternatively jeeps can be hired to move inside the jungal.At the Santuary Tourist Lodge and forest department banglow cater the ultimate safary experience and can be booked from Cooch Behar as the santuary comes under the administrative control of DFO,wild life-III Division , Cooch Behar.Bird watching ,elephant ride,sighting of rhino,deer (Spotted,Hog,Barking,Sambhar),wild pig,tiger,leopard,bison at the salt pit
surely provide a life time experience. One can also opt to enter the depth of wilderness to encounter 'wild things'.
Watch-Towers have been built to observe wild animals.
Tariff
Entry fee-Rs50 per person,Rs150 per vehicle
Guide-Rs200 one guide per vehicle.
Carhire-Rs500 can be shared.
Camera-Rs50
Best time to visit Jaldapara Wildlife Santuary is between September-February.
Apart from the WBTDC tourist at Jaldapara and the forest department banglow inside the the jungal,there are various budget hotels in Alipurduar,Cooch Behar,Birpara(17kms),Hasimara(9kms).
People living in the dooars adore elephant as God,though many villagers,mainly ethnic Nepalese and tribal Santhals, fall prey every year due to man-animal conflicts in the forest areas.
On the other hand casualty of animals in train accidents increased after railway tracks in the region were coverted into broad gauge from meter gauge.
On 22 Sept.2010,seven elephants-four adults and three babies were killed when a goods train mowed them down near Binnaguri,taking the biggest ever toll of animals in a single mishap.
