The Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary

Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary, falling in north-western part of the Chatra district of state of Jharkhand was previously owned by the tikait of Kunda Estate, who once upon a time used to organize big shikars here. This glimpse of history suggests that the hilly-forested terrain constituting the present sanctuary has been a favourite abode of wild variety of animal species since long.

Later on, owing to high density of wildlife therein , the area consisting 64 protected forests (PF) was notified as 'Lawalong wildlife sanctuary' on 07-08-1978.

The nearest railway station on the southern side of this sanctuary is Tori, situated at a distance of 66 km from Lawalong on Daltonganj- Ranchi – Muri – Jamshedpur – Gomoh railway line. The Gaya- Ranchi national highway NH 22, passes by the eastern fringes of the Lawalong sanctuary. Hazaribagh – Simaria – Bagra more road leads to Lawalong. The nearest airport is at Ranchi, which is at about 145 km from Lawalong. An international airport is at Gaya (Bihar), which is about 100 km from Lawalong and 80 km from Chatra.

The sanctuary is one of the significant wildlife reserves of Chhotanagpur plateau and supports a significant population of wildlife including the habitat of elephants and their corridor.

The habitat is also shared by Chitals, Wild boars, Black bears, Jackals, Porcupines, Hyenas, Pangolins, Hares, etc. The important bird species which can be spotted frequently are serpent Eagle, Paradise fly catcher, Kingfisher, Bee eater, Swift, different types of Babblers, Black drongo, Woodpecker, Lapwing, Peafowl, Pond heron, Egret, etc.