Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Mount Abu

Situated in the oldest mountain ranges of the country – the Aravalli Hills, the Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the most visited wildlife sanctuaries in Rajasthan. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1980 and is home to a large number of wild animals, birds, plants, and trees. Measuring 19 km in length and 6 km in breadth, the altitude ranges between 300 meters to 1722 meters at the Guru Shikhar peak, which is the highest peak in Rajasthan. The most interesting feature about the rocks in the region is that they are igneous rocks and due to the effect of wind and rain, large cavities have formed on most of them.

There are numerous flora and trees in the wildlife reserve. The sanctuary is home to up to 112 plant families, 449 genera, and 820 species of plants. The sanctuary has up to 81 species of trees, 89 types of shrubs, 28 species of climbers, and 17 species of tuberous plants. The sanctuary also contains a diversity of orchid species. The sanctuary includes bamboo woods in some areas. Numerous animal species, including lions, tigers, leopards, hedgehogs, porcupines, Indian hares, mongooses, pangolins, bears, wild boars, langurs, foxes, hyenas, jackals, small Indian civets, jungle cats, sambhars, and others, can be found in the wildlife sanctuary. There are as many as 250 bird species in this area.