Royal Manas National Park

Royal Manas is Bhutan's oldest protected area, set aside as a wildlife sanctuary in 1966 and made a national park in 1993. It covers about 1,057 square kilometres of the southern foothills across Zhemgang, Pemagatshel and Sarpang, dropping from broadleaf forest to subtropical grassland along the Indian border.

It runs straight into India's Manas National Park on the other side of the line, so the two function as one range for animals that do not recognise the border: tiger, elephant, gaur, sambar and the golden langur, which is found almost nowhere else. Access is limited and arranged in advance, and the park is reached from the south rather than over the mountains.