Wildlife Sanctuaries in Uttarakhand :

Apart from the hill stations and pilgrimage centres of Uttarakhand, this place is also known for the wildlife sanctuaries. It is home to a wide variety of wildlife. One of the primary reasons for this is the topography of the state, which ranges from semi green to lush green forests. Uttarakhand is a place which has many rare species of animals. It boasts of a few National Parks and sanctuaries as well. 

The species of animals found here are many; one can see numerous rare species like Snow Leopard, Yak, Himalayan Tahr, Himalayan Black Bear, Himalayan Musk Deer, etc. which are very rare to find anywhere else in India. Some of the famous National Parks of Uttarakhand, along with Uttarakhand Wildlife Sanctuaries, are:

Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary :

Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary is located 54 km from Pithoragarh near Askot .This sanctuary has been set up primarily with the object of conserving the musk deer (Moschus leucogaster) and its habitat. Intensive efforts have been initiated to conserve this rare species. Other mammals found in this sanctuary include the Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, Himalayan jungle cat, civet, barking deer, serow, goral and Himalayan brown bear. Many species of high altitude birds are also found in this sanctuary.

Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary :

Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is perched on top of the Jhandi Dhar hills in the Himalayas. It is about 33 km north of the Almora town in Uttarakhand, India. From a place called Zero Point in Binsar one can see the Himalayan peaks like Kedarnath Peak, Shivling, Trisul and Nanda Devi.

Binsar was the summer capital of the Chand Kings, who ruled over Kumaon from the 11th to 18th centuries AD. Binsar was established in 1988 for the conservation and protection of the shrinking broad leaf oak (Quercus) forests of the Central Himalayan region, and it has over 200 bird species.

Binsar has a museum about the flora and fauna of the region. Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is known for its wide variety of flora ranging from 25 types of trees and 24 types of bushes to seven varieties of grasses. The higher altitudes of sanctuary are covered with oak and rhododendron trees. March and April are the months when flowers, especially ruby red rhododendron, are in full bloom.

The mammals include leopard , Himalayan goral, chital, musk deer ,Sumatran serow ,rhesus macaque, red giant flying squirrel ,and Indian muntjac. It has over 200 species of birds including tits, forktail, nuthatches, blackbirds, parakeets, laughingthrush, magpies, kalij pheasant (Lophuraleucomelana), monal, koklass pheasant, eagles, woodpeckers, and Eurasian jays. Binsar is also home to many reptiles and a wide range of butterflies.

Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary :

Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary is a national park, established initially as a wildlife sanctuary in 1955, and later converted into a national park. It is named after a prominent Indian freedom fighter and politician Govind Ballabh Pant, who became Home Minister in 1950 and is remembered for his achievement in establishing Hindi as an official language.

The park was established on 1 March 1955, and is situated in the Uttarkashi district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The park lies in the higher reaches of the Garhwal Himalaya or in Middle Himalayas. The total area of Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary is 958 km2 (370 sq mi).The Snow Leopard Project started by the Government of India is being managed at this sanctuary. Also, it is one of the remaining strongholds in the Himalayas of the bearded vulture, a vital ecological catalyst.

Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary :

Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary, also called the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary, is a wildlife sanctuary declared under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 . Its alternate name comes from its primary purpose of protecting the endangered Himalayan musk deer. Consisting of an area of 975 km2 (376 sq mi), it is the largest protected area in the western Himalayas. It is internationally important for the diversity of its flora and fauna (particularly of ungulate species).

The sanctuary straddles a geographically diverse landscape and transitional environment. IUCN has reported that "From 44.4% to 48.8% of the sanctuary is forested, 7.7% comprises alpine meadows and scrub, 42.1% is rocky or under permanent snow and 1.5% represents formerly forested areas that have been degraded.

The sanctuary takes its name from the famous Hindu temple of Kedarnath which is just outside its northern border. The entire 14 km (9 mi) route from Gaurikund to Kedarnath temple (3,584 m or 11,759 ft) passes through the sanctuary. The sanctuary is geographically situated in the Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts of Uttarakhand. It lies within the larger Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows of alpineecoregion of India, Nepal and Tibet.

Naina Devi Himalayan Bird Conservation Reserve :

Naina Devi Himalayan Bird Conservation Reserve  is a wildlife reserve in the Nainital district of the state .This reserve forest is located in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand and placed inside Nainital forest division. Nainital forest division at present has several birding trails and forest patches consisting of temperate broad-leaf forests to alpine grasslands to rhododendron shrubberies. Wide altitudinal variation supports a very large segment of avian fauna to inhibit in this forest range. This sanctuary falls at the junction of Palearctic ecozone and Indomalaya ecozone, supporting a large variety of mammalian and avian fauna.

Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary :

Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary  was created in 2012. The sanctuary is part of the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), a forest zone that stretches from Uttarakhand in India and extends into Nepal.

The Nandhaur Sanctuary lies between the Gola and Sarda rivers in the Haldwani forest division and covers an area of 269.96 km2. The Nandhaur Sanctuary is a link between the Bramhadev and Sukhlaphata Wildlife Reserves of Nepal and the western forests of Ramnagar and the Terai central forest division in India. Before its notification as a wildlife sanctuary by the IndianMinistry of Environment and Forests, most of the Nandhaur landscape was a reserve forest. Nandhaur is primarily a sal forest. Since 2002, Nandhaur has been a part of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve. The Wildlife Institute of India in 2004 recognised Nandhaur as one of three viable habitats key to the long-term future of the tiger.