Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary was set up in 1915 in the Darjeeling District

Darjeeling district

Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its beautiful hill stations and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters...

 of West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is one of the oldest wildlife sanctuaries of India. It covers an area of 38.60 sq km. The elevation ranges from 1500 to 2600 m.
High-altitude animals such as barking deer, wild pig, himalayan black bear, leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

, jungle cat

Jungle Cat

The jungle cat is a medium-sized cat and considered the largest remaining species of the wild cat genus Felis. The species is also called the swamp lynx but is not closely related to the lynxes....

, common rhesus monkey, Assam macaque

Assam Macaque

The Assam macaque is a macaque of the Old World monkey family native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, the species is listed as Near Threatened by IUCN, as it is experiencing significant declines due to hunting, habitat degradation and fragmentation.- Characteristics :The Assam macaque has...

, Himalayan flying squirrel

Flying squirrel

Flying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of 44 species of squirrels .- Description :...

, etc. are found in their natural habitats. The sanctuary is also rich in bird life. The two Senchal lake

Senchal Lake

Senchal lake, located 10 km to the south-east of Darjeeling, is the main reservoir of potable water for the town of Darjeeling, India. The lake is located at an altitude of 8,160 ft atop a hill. The hill also has a golf course and is one of the highest golf courses in the world. Senchal is a...

s supply drinking water to the town of Darjeeling.