National Parks and Sanctuaries

            The above discussion shows that North East India was rich in forest resources. But indiscriminate felling of trees and killing of wild animals have been rapidly depleting these resources in recent years. Efforts have been made by government to conserve these resources by declaring some forest areas as �reserve forest�, some as wild animal sanctuaries and some as national parks. As back as in 1879 an act named as Elephant Conservation Act was passed to restrict indiscriminate catching of  elephants of Assam. Similarly Wild Bird Conservation Act was adopted in1887 and Forest Conservation Act was adopted in 1891.  In order to protect the forests of Assam, in 1901 the Kulsi and Goalpara Reserve Forest Act, in 1905 the Kaziranga Reserve Forest Act. and in 1928 the  Manas Reserve Forest Act were adopted.  Besides , Kaziranga and Manas reserve forests were raised to the status of Game Sanctuaries in 1912 and in 1928 respectively. The Rhinoceros Protection laws was enacted in 1950 and in 1974 the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary  was raised to a National Park. Further the wild life preservation laws were tightened in 1976. All these acts were meant for preservation of the precious plant and animal life of North East India. There are at present many reserve forests, sanctuaries and a few national parks in this region . Of them the following are the main :

            1. Kaziranga National Park : This park is located in Bokahat subdivision of Golaghat District skirting the Brahmaputra to the north and  Karbi Anglong in the south. Its area is 430km². The whole park is situated on the Brahmaputra flood-plain and supports tall grasses, swamps and beels. There  are a few patches of deciduous forests also. The most important attraction of the Park is its one -horned  Asian rhinoceros. Besides, it has wild buffalo , elephant , wild boar , gaur, Royal Bengal tiger, Leopard , swamp deer, hog deer, samber and many  other animals including hoolock gibbon and a few varieties of monkey. The park is also famous for pelican, horn bill, white throated brown  horn bill, florican and several other species of swamp birds. In   1991 , the Park had as many as 1100 rhinoceroses, 800 elephants. 10,000 deer, more than one thousand wild buffaloes, 12 bisons and about  3000 wild boars . The Park being located on a low lying area beside the  Brahmaputra suffers from frequent flooding in the rainy season leading  to death of its animals. Poaching is another common problem  of the Park.

            2. Manas Wild Life Sanctuary and Project Tiger : This sanctuary is located in the north western corner of Barpeta District below the  Bhutan foothills on the eastern bank of the Manas river. It is recently that Manas has been recognised as an important sanctuary of the country Its area is 390 km2 . It is located over bhabar  and tarai region . The bhabar region has deciduous forest, while the tarai region supports tall grass. The important animals of this sanctuary are Royal Bengal tiger, golden langur , hispid hare , pigmy hog, swamp deer, hog deer porcupine and Indian bison. It has also a small rhinoceros population. Among the  birds found in Mans, the great pied horn bill, florican pea-cock  and  white throated brown horn bill are the main. A Project Tiger of  the  Central Government was started here in 1973 taking Manas as the core. It is found that the tiger population of the region has increased  reasonably after the execution of the Project, The sanctuary  is also important for angling in the headwaters of the Manas river near Mathanguri.

            3. Sonai-Rupai Wild life Sanctuary : This sanctuary is located on  the northern part of Sonitpur District to the west of the river Gabharu  north of Dhekiajuli at the Bhutan foothills over the bhabar and tarai tracts. The total area of it is 175 km² . Important animals of this Sanctuary are Royal Bengal tiger, elephant, wild buffalo, bison, dhole, wild  boar, black bear, leopard, stag and golden langur. Besides, it is important for such birds as imperial pigeon, pheasant and parrot.

            4. Orang Wild Life Sanctuary : This sanctuary is located in the south- eastern corner of Darrang District on the western side of the Jia  Dhansiri river to the north of the Brahmaputra . Its area is 72 km². Orang has both grassland and deciduous forests . It has rhinoceros wild buffalo, hog deer and florican. The sanctuary has also a few migratory  pelican colonies.

            5.  Pabitara Wild life Sanctuary : Pabitara was declared  a  wild life sanctuary in July 1987. It is located in between the Brahmaputra and Kalang in Marigaon District. Its area is only 16 km ² .The sanctuary is  covered mostly by tall grass. Pabitara has some rhinoceroses, leopards and some wild cats. The sanctuary is rich in avifauna. It has crane, stork, florican, pheasant and several other varieties of swamp birds.

            6. Laokhowa Wild Life Sanctuary : It is located in the northern part of Nagaon District, on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra to the west  of Silghat. The area of the sanctuary is 70 km². It has both grasslands and deciduous forests, It has a few rhinoceros, apart from swamp deer, wild buffalo, elephant,  tiger and such swamp birds as wild  duck and cormorants. A large part of the forest has now been encroached upon by man illegally.

            7. Garampani Wild Life Sanctuary : It is a small sanctuary of 6 km² area in Golaghat District to the west of Dhansiri River skirting KarbiAnglong hills. The National Highway No. 39 from Numaligarh to Dimapur and onward passes by its eastern side. It is covered mostly by deciduous forest. The sanctuary is famous for elephant, leopard and hoolock gibon.

            8. Pabha Wild Life Sanctuary : It is located in the northern part of lakhimpur District at the junction of Ranga Nadi and  Luhit. Its area is 49 km² . The sanctuary is famous for wild buffalo and is referred to as Milroy Buffalo Sanctuary. It has some beels within it which it which support rich fish fauna.

            9. Baranadi Wild Life Sanctuary : It is located in the north western corner of Darrang district. Its western boundary is Barnadi and northern boundary is Bhutan hills. The area of the sanctuary is 26.21 km². It has deciduous and semi evergreen forest. It is famous for pigmy hog, porcupine and hispid hare.

            10. Dibru-Saikhowa Wild Life Sanctuary : It is located in Tinsukia District in the south bank of Lohit River. It has a large area of 650 km²  The sanctuary  supports tall grass and evergreen forest. It is famous for the rare white winged duck (Deohanh). many other varieties of swamp birds and wild horse . It is said that some horses left behind by the American and British forces after World War II found their resort here and their progenies are now found in wild state in the sanctuary.

            11. Nameri Wild Life Sanctuary : This sanctuary is located in the  northern foothills of Sonitpur District on the northern bank of Jia Bharali river skirting Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, it is part of the Charduar Reserve Forest. Its area is 130 km² . It has deciduous and evergreen forests. Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger, capped langur and various types of pheasants are the main wild life of the sanctuary. Besides, the river Jia Bharali provides many ideal  sites fore angling.

            12. Proposed Baruali and North Cachar Wild  Life  Sanctuary : This sanctuary is located at the border of Cachar District and North Cachar hills District . It will include areas from both the districts. The area is rich in leopard, clouded leopard, bear and hoolock gibbon.

            13. Proposed Dhaleswari Reserve Forest : This forest is a part of the Innerline Reserve Forest within Cachar District along its frontier with Mizoram. This is a vast forest contaniing many varieties of  deciduous  and evergreen trees including bamboo and garjan. The forest contains slow loris, pig- tailed monkey, deer , gaur , Royal Bengal tiger leopard, golden cat, stork, crane, trogen, pheasant , python, cobra , etc.

            14. Deepar Beel Bird Sanctuary : This lake and the swamps  around it provide ideal location for food and nesting of the swamp birds. It is  located at about 9 km to the west of Guwahati city on the south banks of the Brahmaputra skirting some hills. The lake and its surrounding swamps comprise an area of 4.14 km ² . It is declared  as a bird sanctuary on January 1, 1989. There are about 112 species of birds, of which 61 are local,  27 are migratory inside North East India and 24 are migratory from outside North East India .

            15. Sampara- Bardalani and Bardoibam -Bilmukh Bird Sanctuary  : These two sanctuaries are located in Dhakuakhana subdivision of Lakhimpur District. They are the home of many large and small local birds. Florican., pheasant, dove , wild duck , wild hen,  stork, crane , king  fisher , pelican, hornbill and many varieties of local birds are found  here .

            16. Namdapha Tiger Project : This project area of 1985 km² is  located in Changlang District of Arunachal Pradesh. It is composed of hills and valleys and supports tropical evergreen forest. It  has  Royal Bengal tiger, leopard , clouded leopard, panda, bison, deer, hog  deer  barking deer  elephant, black bear, python,  monitor, chameleon, flying squirrel and many species of birds.

            17.  Mauling National Park : This park is located in West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh. It has an area of 483 km² . The area is  famous for three varieties of goat -antelopes, locally known as takin, coral and serow Besides  it has many birds including pheasants.

            18. Pakhul Wild Life Sanctuary : It is located  in East Kameng District of Arunachal . It has a large area of 861.95 km² . It was declared a sanctuary in 1979 . The sanctuary is referred to as a Heaven for Nature Lovers. It has Royal Bengal tiger , leopard bison and many varieties of birds including pheasants.

            19. Balpakram Wild Life Sanctuary : It is situated in the Garo hills about a hundred kilometres west of Shillong. Its area is 85 km² .  It has elephant , antelope., spotted deer , wild boar and many species of birds.

            20. Keibul Lamjao National Park : This Park is located in the south of Loktak Lake  in Manipur. It has an area of 50 km² and was declared a sanctuary in 1966. Subsequently in 1977, it was raised to a National Park. The Park is sought to be made a sanctuary of the rare wild goat ,locally known as thamin. This  is also known as Sangai or brow antlered  deer. About a dozen of this animal were brought from Delhi Zoo and  are being raised here, as a part of the �Brow Antlered Deer Project�. It also has antelope, barking deer,  swamp deer and many varieties of swamp birds.

            21. Proposed Keilam Hill Sanctuary : This proposed  sanctuary is  located in Churanchandpur  District of Manipur. It si famous for a variety of wild goat locally known as �sabeng� . Besides, it has many other wild animals.

            22.  Proposed Juko Valley National Park : This proposed national park is located in Senapati District of Manipur bordering  Nagaland . It also has a variety of wild goat along  with other animals.

            23.  Proposed Juko Valley National Park : This proposed  park is located in Ukhrul District  of Manipur around Soroi Park (2568 m ). Siroi is one of highest  peaks in North East India outside Arunachal Pradesh. The area has evergreen pine trees and some world famous orchids and  lilies (Siroi Lily ) Besides, It has many mid -altitude animals and birds  not normally found in other parts of India.

            24. Yangon Pokpi Lokchaw Sanctuary : This sanctuary is located in Chandel (Tengnoupal ) District of Manipur bordering Myanmar. It has an area of 184 km² . There are about 40 species of wild animals and  70 species of birds not commonly found in other parts of the country

            25.  Intaki Wild Life Sanctuary : It is located in Nagaland. It has an  area  of 202 km² . It has elephant, bison, wild boar, barking deer, leopard , clouded leopard, tiger and pagolin and other species of bird.

            26. Dampa Wild Life Sanctuary  : This sanctuary is located in Aizawl District of  Mizoram. It has an area of 180 km² . It contains elephant tiger , leopard, antelope, barking deer ,bear, wild boar, wild   dog , hornbill pheasant python cobra and many other species of animals.

            27. Trishna Wild life Sanctuary : It is located in Tripura and  has  an area of 197.7 km² . It has Indian Gaur many rare varieties of plants.

            28. Sipahijala Sanctuary : Located in Tripura , this sanctuary  has an area of 18.53 km². It is famous for various species of animals and birds .

            North East India has 28 parks and sanctuaries as stated above, but some of these have been found to be partly destroyed by man either for  jhum cultivation or for extracting fuel wood and timber. Many forests in the region have been destroyed for constructing lines of transport also. On the other hand , poaching of rare and  valuable animals like rhinoceros , elephant , bison, wild goat deer, tiger  leopard etc. has reduced the number and species of wild animals  found abundantly earlier in the region of late. All the above  factors have been contributing to a rapid breaking down of the ecological balance in the  region. It is therefore, found that many species of plants and animals are  on the way of their extinction .

            It is however, heartening to note that some people have relished  the dire consequences of extinction of many varieties of plans and animals and occurrences of ecological imbalance Hence, some organisation like the World Heritage Group, World Wild Life Fund, Natures Bacon, Prabhati Pakhi, etc. have come up in the region to plead for conservation of plants and animals and maintenance of ecological  balance at any cost.