Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary, Protected area in Maharashtra, India

Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in the Bhandara and Gondia districts of Maharashtra. The landscape includes mixed forests, teak stands, bamboo thickets, and open grasslands covering about 116 square kilometers.

The forests around Bhandara were historically controlled by Gond kings. On 3 June 1970 the area was declared a wildlife sanctuary, covering 116.54 km2. In 2012 the government announced plans to merge it with another national park and include it in Project Tiger.

The name comes from the Sanskrit word for elephants, which once lived in the area. Visitors walk through dense woods and open grasslands that now shelter different wildlife.

Safari tours start at the Chorkhamara and Pitezari gates early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Each vehicle takes up to six people to avoid crowding the tracks.

Marathi writer Venkatesh Madgulkar wrote under a kusum tree in the sanctuary, and the tree still stands. Guides here, many from the local Gond community, read alarm calls of langurs and deer to track tigers. The forest has no electricity supply at all.