Manas National Park

Technical assistance has been requested for this article. One of the technicians will find this article automatically, and remove this message once the problem is fixed. Details: temple glitch

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	India
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, ix, x
Reference	338
Region**	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	1985  (9th Session)
Endangered	1992
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Manas National Park Manas NP Manas NP (India)
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location:	Assam, India
Nearest city:	Barpeta Road
Area:	391 km².
Established:	1990
Visitation:	NA (in NA)
Governing body:	Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India

Manas National Park has been designated a National Park, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve in Assam, India. Located in the Himalayan foothills, with a part extending to Bhutan. The park has become well know for its rare and endangered wildlife, found nowhere else in the world, like the Assam Roofed Turtle, Hispid Hare, Golden Langur and Pygmy Hog.

Origin of the name

The name of the park originates from the Manas River, named after the serpent god Manasa. The Manas river serves as a major tributary of Brahmaputra River, which passes through the heart of the national park.

History of the Park

The Manas National Park, declared a sanctuary on October 1, 1928, has an area of 360 sq. km. Manas Tiger reserve inaugurated in 1973. Prior to the declaration of the sanctauary, the park had been designated as a Reserved Forest, called Manas Reserved Forest and North Kamrup Reserved Forest. The Cooch Behar royal family and Raja of Gauripur used the park as a hunting reserve. In 1951 and 1955, the government increased the area to 391 sq. km. In December 1985, UNESCO declared Manas a World Heritage site. The Indian government added Kahitama Reserved Forest, the Kokilabari Reserved Forest and the Panbari Reserved Forest in the year 1990 to form the Manas National Park. In 1992, UNESCO revised their designation to a World Heritage Site in danger due to heavy poaching and terrorist activities.

Human History

Only one forest village, Agrang, exists within the park, situated at the center the National Park. In addition to that village, fifty six villages surround the park. Many more fringe villages directly or indirectly depend on the park for their livlihood.

Geography of the Park

Political Geography: The park area falls in six districts: Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darrang in the state of Assam in India.

Physical Geography: Manas, sitting in the Eastern Himalayas foothills, has dense forests throughout. The Manas river, the main river and a major tributary of Brahmaputra river, flows through the western section of the park, dividing into two separate rivers, the Beki and Bholkaduba. The Manas river, and five other small rivers, flow through the National Park which lies on a wide low-lying alluvial terrace below the foothills of the outer Himalaya. Limestone and sandstone make up the bedrock of the savanna area in the north of the park, whereas deep deposits of fine alluvium soil nurish the grasslands in the south of the park. Sub-Himalayan Bhabar Terai formation, combined with riverine succession continuing up to Sub-Himalayan mountain forest, make the region one of the richest biodiversity areas in the world. The park measures 391 km². in area and situated at a height of 61m to 110m above mean sea level.

Climate: The minimum temperature reaches around 15 degree C while maximum temperature measures around 37 degree C. Heavy rainfall occurs between May and September; the park has an the annual average rainfall of around 333 cm.

Natural History of the Park

Biomes

Two major biomes exist in Manas:

• The grassland biome
• The forest biome

Flora

Vegetation: The Burma Monsoon Forests of Manas lie on the borders between the Indo-Gangetic and Indo-Malayan biogeographical realms and is part of the Brahmaputra Valley Biogeographic Province. The combination of Sub-Himalayan Bhabar Terai formation with riverine succession leading up to Sub-Himalayan mountain forest makes it one of the richest biodiversity areas in the world.

The main vegetation types are: i) Sub-Himalayan Light Alluvial Semi-Evergreen forests in the northern parts. ii) East Himalayan mixed Moist and Dry Deciduous forests (the most common type). iii) Low Alluvial Savanna Woodland, and iv) Assam Valley Semi-Evergreen Alluvial Grasslands which cover almost 50% of the Park. Much of the riverine dry deciduous forest is at an early successional stage. It is replaced by moist deciduous forest away from water courses, which is succeeded by semi-evergreen climax forest in the northern part of the park. A total of 543 plants species have been recorded from the core zone. Of these, 374 species are dicotyledons (including 89 trees), 139 species monocotyledons and 30 are Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms. The Park's common trees include Aphanamixis polystachya, Anthocephalus chinensis, Syzygium cumini, S. formosum, S. oblatum, Bauhinia purpurea, Mallotus philippensis, Cinnamomum tamala, Actinodaphne obvata, Bombax ceiba, Sterculia villosa, Dillenia indica, D. pentagyna, Careya arborea, Lagerstroemia parviflora, L.speciosa, Terminalia bellirica, T. chebula, Trewia polycarpa, Gmelina arborea, Oroxylum indicum and Bridelia spp. The Grasslands are dominated by Imperata cylindrica, Saccharum naranga, Phragmites karka, Arundo donax, Dillenia pentagyna, Phyllanthus emblica, Bombax ceiba, and species of Clerodendrum, Leea, Grewia, Premna and Mussaenda

Fauna

The park has recorded 55 species of mammals, 380 species of birds, 50 of reptiles, and 3 species of amphibians. Out of these wildlife, 21 mammals are India’s Schedule I mammals and 31 of them are threatened.

The fauna of the park includes Tigers, Elephants, Rhinoceros, Wild Buffaloes, Leopards, Clouded Leopards, Gaurs, Swamp Deer, Capped Langurs, Golden Langurs, Assamese Macaques, Slow Loris, Hoolock Gibbons, Smooth Indian Otters, Sloth Bears, Barking Deer, Hog Deer, Sambar and Chital.

The park is well know for its rare and endangered wildlife which is not found anywhere else in the world like the Assam Roofed Turtle, Hispid Hare, Golden Langur and Pygmy Hog.

Manas houses about 380 species of birds. Manas have the largest population of endangered Bengal Florican. The major other birds includes Giant Hornbills, Jungle Fowls, Bulbuls, Brahminy Ducks, Khaleej Pheasants, Egrets, Pelicans, Fishing Eagles, Serpent Eagles, Falcons, Scarlet Minivets, Bee-Eaters, Magpie Robins, Pied Hornbills, Gray Hornbills, Mergansers, Harriers, Ospreys and Herons.

Park-specific information

Activities

The best way to watch wildlife at the park is to use powerful binoculars, with night vision facilities at night. The ideal way to explore a majority of the Manas National Park in Assam is in a 4-wheel (Jeep) drive petrol vehicle. A boat ride on Manas river which commences its ride from Mathanguri and ends around 35km away is another popular option. The third option, which is a favourite with most visitors, are the elephant rides organised by the park authorities from Mathanguri. These take you deep in to the densest areas of the forest and often right in between some of the wildlife there, including elephants, rhinos and wild buffaloes. The park is closed in the Monsoon season.

Lodging

A Forest Lodge inside the park is situated at Mothanguri.

Manas Jungle Camp is a Community cum Conservation Tourism project in Kokilabari near Eastern Core area of the Manas National Park, run by the local Conservation NGO MMES(Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society)and ,and is committed to the revival of Manas and get it free from the UNESCO Red-list.The camp has 04 ethnic cottages in a Rubber Plantation near the park boundary.The project runs various conservation programmes,Cultural self-help groups,Handicraft self-help groups,and conducts regular patrolling inside the park in association with the Forest department to stop poaching, cattle grazing.This initiative has already received appreciation from the UNESCO-World Heritage Commission,and people from all over the world,and is considered as the most positive development towards the revival of Manas.

Approach

• Nearest airport: Borjhar
• Nearest railhead: Barpeta Road
• Nearest Highway: NH 31 (22 km away)
• Nearest town: The town of Barpeta Road is next to the park boundary and entrance.
• Nearest city: The city of Guwahati is 176 km away from the park.

External links

• Wildlife Times: A trip to Kaziranga and Manas National Park.
• Birds of Kolkata: Manas National Park. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
• Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society - Protectors of Manas.
• Official Website of Manas National Park.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Manas National Park  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Manas National Park"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.