from the highway where a faded billboard announces entry into the reserve forest mainly consisting of Sal trees. Flora Dense old forest Kalesar has 53% dense forest, 38% open forest, 9% scrub. Total forest cover is about 71%. Spread over an area of 11,570 acres (46.8 km2), Kalesar reserve forest is the only one of its kind in Haryana. Besides the tall, leafy sal trees that constitute the dense age-old forest belt of the Doon valley, there are other trees like Semul, Amaltas and Bahera. khair, shisham, sain, jhingan, chhal (Anogeissus latifolia) also found in the forest. It is the only forest in Haryana with a natural Sal tree belt. Among the flora is the small sindoor tree — it has dainty flowers, which turn into pods to produce the vermilion sindoor that adorns the tresses of married women. Climbers snake up the tree stems, and the forest floor is littered with fallen leaves and foliage plants. Sculptural anthills dot the landscape. There is a long stretch of man-made forest clearing and a 'fire line' which helps in containing forest fires. Medicinal plants In the jungle, there is a machaan (high observation tower) with a dangerous-looking service ladder. From top the effort is rewarded by a sweeping panorama of the 11000 acres (45 km2) of the great sal forest; criss-crossed by fire lines and meandering rivulets. About 20 km away on the Chuharpur road, is the Ch. Devi Lal Herbal Nature Park, a project of the Forests Department, Haryana. The park, spread over with 61,000 shrubs of herbs and 6100 medicinal tree plants. Fauna Wild animals Khol Hi-Raitan Wildlife Sanctuary and Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary are only 3 km aerial distance from each other, both are also only few km away from Kalesar National Park, all of which lie in the Shivalik hills of Haryana. All these three sanctuaries have similar species of wild animal that migrate from one sanctuary to another. In 2016, survey recorded Indian leopard, leopard cat, rusty-spotted cat, jungle cat, Indian jackal, Asiatic elephant, chital, sambar, barking deer, goral, nilgai, Indian crested porcupine, small Indian civet, common palm civet, gray langur, rhesus macaque, Indian gray mongoose, boar and Indian hare. Earlier May 2004 survey in collaboration with Wildlife Institute of India found wild boars, sambhars, hares, red junglefowl, porcupine, monkeys, chitals etc. Leopard In 2016, the annual two-month animal counting survey done by the Wildlife Institute