| Raimona National Park | |
|---|---|
 Western parts of Raimona National Park | |
   | |
| Location | Gossaigaon, Kokrajhar District, Assam |
| Nearest city | Gossaigaon |
| Coordinates | 26°39′35″N89°58′34″E / 26.65972°N 89.97611°E |
| Area | 422 km2 (163 sq mi) |
| Created | 9 June 2021 |
| Governing body | Government of Assam |
Raimona National Park is located in extreme western part of Assam, India. It is spread across Gossaigaon and Kokrajhar subdivisions of Kokrajhar district of Bodoland Territorial Region. [1]
It was declared a National Park on 5 June 2021 by the announcement of Assam's Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the occasion of World Environment Day at Gandhi Mandap, Guwahati. On 9 June 2021; it became as National Park through an Assam Gazette Notification no.FRW.02/2021/27 dtd. 8 June 2021. It is a part of a contiguous forest patch with an area of 422 km2 (163 sq mi) covering the northern part of the notified Ripu Reserve Forest (508.62 km2 (196.38 sq mi)), which forms the westernmost buffer to Manas Tiger Reserve in the foothills of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot. [2] The present Raimona National Park was originally recommended as Ripu-Chirang Wildlife Sanctuary being part of Ripu reserved forest and Chirang reserved forest being adjacent a part of it was also mooted to be within. Those were made owing to its significance for conservation of Asian elephants, gaur or Indian "bison" and golden langur, all of which have large populations in the area. [3] [4] [5] It is also part of Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve.
The boundary of Raimona National Park is marked by the Sankosh River on the west, along the inter-state boundary of West Bengal and Assam from Indo-Bhutan border up to fire line Ride-6 southwards (BP30) and Saralbhanga River on the east, runs northwards till it touches the Indo-Bhutan international boundary on the north and remaining part of Ripu Reserve Forest on the south. The southern boundary runs eastwards along the fire line Ride-6 up to Pekua River where it runs at 90 degrees southwards till it meets the fire line Ride-3. [6]
The area is located along the Himalayan foothills and together with Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary of Bhutan and Buxa Tiger Reserve of West Bengal forms a fairly large trans-boundary conservation landscape of more than 2,400 km2 (930 sq mi). [7]
Raimona National Park is famous for golden langur, an endemic species (with Bhutan) which has been named as the mascot of Bodoland region. It also has Asian elephant, Bengal tiger, clouded leopard, gaur, chital, four to five species of hornbills, more than 150 species of butterflies, 190 species of birds, [8] 380 varieties of plants and orchids. [9] It is already on the global map for being an important bird and biodiversity area. [10]
Being a moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forest, this National Park is rich in biodiversity. It has four non-human primates, slow loris, Assamese macaque, Rhesus monkey and capped langur. [11] Other noteworthy mammals found in this national park includes Chinese pangolin, dhole or Asian wild dog, Himalayan black bear, crab-eating mongoose, jungle cat, leopard cat, Asian golden cat, Bengal tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, Asian elephant, gaur, Himalayan serow, sambar, chital, hog deer, barking deer, crestless Himalayan porcupine and hispid hare. [12]
 | This section possibly contains original research .(May 2017) |
Raimona forest harbours more than 260 bird species and confirmed presence of minimum 227 avian species that includes 7 globally threatened avian fauna out of which two species were critically endangered such as White-rumped vulture and Slender-billed vulture ; five vulnerable viz., Greater spotted eagle, Great hornbill, Wreathed hornbill, Rufous-necked hornbill , Lesser adjutant as well as seven near threatened species. Amongst these, there were a total 43 migratory bird species and 184 were residential bird species as per Choudhury (2000). These include a total 45 species of aquatic birds and 182 species of terrestrial birds as observed in the field and described by Grimmett et al. (2016). Among all the recorded avian fauna, Black-crested bulbul, Black drongo and Golden- fronted leafbird were respectively three highly dominant species found in all the habitat types of Raimona National Park. Passeriformes holds around 116 species (51%) making it the dominant in terms of species richness. [13] Avifauna includes critically endangered white-bellied heron, swamp francolin, kaleej pheasant, grey peacock pheasant, Indian peafowl, Oriental darter, lesser adjutant, collared falconet, slender-billed vulture, white-backed vulture, besra, black baza, Jerdon's baza, osprey, Bengal florican, now perhaps extirpated, ibisbill, green imperial pigeon, mountain imperial pigeon, red-breasted parakeet, great pied hornbill, occasional rufous-necked and grey hornbills, wreathed hornbill, hill myna and scaly thrush. [14]
Gee's golden langur, also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of Western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan. Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the golden langur was first brought to the attention of the Western world by the naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee in the 1950s. Adult males have a cream to golden coat with darker flanks while the females and juveniles are lighter. The golden langur has a black face and a long tail up to 50 cm (19.69 in) in length. It lives in high trees and has a herbivorous diet of fruits, leaves, seeds, buds and flowers. The average group size is eight individuals, with a ratio of several females to each adult male. It is one of the most endangered primate species of India and Bhutan.
Buxa Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve and national park in northern West Bengal, India, covering an area of 760 km2 (290 sq mi). In altitude, it ranges from 60 m (200 ft) in the Gangetic Plains to 1,750 m (5,740 ft) bordering the Himalayas in the north. At least 284 bird species inhabit the reserve. Mammals present include Asian elephant, gaur, Sambar deer, clouded leopard, Indian leopard, and Asian golden cat.
Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is a national park located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, Assam, India. It was designated a Biosphere Reserve in July 1997 with an area of 765 km2 (295 sq mi), including a core area of 340 km2 (130 sq mi) and a buffer zone of 425 km2 (164 sq mi).
Nameri National Park is a national park in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in the Sonitpur District of Assam, India, about 35 km from Tezpur. Nameri is about 9 km from Chariduar, the nearest village.
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India is home to a large variety of wildlife. It is a biodiversity hotspot with various ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the evergreen rainforests in the south, the sands of the west to the marshy mangroves of the east. India lies within the Indomalayan realm and is home to about 7.6% of mammal, 14.7% of amphibian, 6% of bird, 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.2% of flowering plant species. India's forests contain about 500 species of mammals and more than 1300 bird species.
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Kaziranga National Park is an Indian national park and a World Heritage Site in Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam, India. It is refuge for the world's largest population of great one-horned rhinoceros. Kaziranga has the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006. The park has large breeding populations of elephant, wild Asiatic water buffalo and swamp deer. Kaziranga is recognized as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International for conservation of avifaunal species. The park has achieved notable progress in wildlife conservation with respect to other protected areas in India.Kaziranga was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006
Land of the Tiger is a BBC nature documentary series exploring the natural history of the Indian subcontinent, first transmitted in the UK on BBC Two in 1997. The production team covered the breadth and depth of India, from the Himalayan mountains in the north to the reef-fringed islands of the Indian Ocean, to capture footage of the country's wild places and charismatic wildlife.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked nation nestled in the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalaya. To its north lies the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and to the west, south and east lies the Indian states of Sikkim, Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Anwaruddin Choudhury is an Indian naturalist, noted for his expertise on the fauna of North-East India.
Royal Manas National Park is Bhutan's oldest national park, and the Royal government considers it the "conservation showpiece of the Kingdom" and a "genetic depository" for valuable plants. It has an area of 1,057 square kilometres (408 sq mi) and covers eastern Sarpang District, the western half of Zhemgang District, and western Pemagatshel District.
Dehing Patkai National Park is a national park in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam covering an area of 231.65 km2 (89.44 sq mi) of rainforest. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary on 13 June 2004. On 13 December 2020, the Government of Assam upgraded it into a national park. On 9 June 2021, the Forest Department of Assam officially notified it as a national park. It is located in the Dehing Patkai Landscape which is a dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest. The rainforest stretches for more than 575 km2 (222 sq mi) in the districts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Charaideo. The forest further spreads over in the Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Dehing Patkai National Park harbours the largest stretch of lowland rainforests in India. Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant. Dehing-Patkai as a potential wildlife sanctuary was identified in late 1980s during a primate survey as "Upper Dehing Wildlife Sanctuary". Subsequently during a study on white-winged wood duck in early 1990s, it was discovered as a globally important site for this duck and recommended to be upgraded to "Upper Dehing National Park".
Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area located in Karbi Anglong district of Assam in India. This wildlife sanctuary covers an area of 37 km2. The area was declared as a sanctuary on 27 July 2000. It is located 25 km from Golaghat district and 65 km from the Kaziranga National Park. Together with Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary of Karbi Anglong and Nambor-Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary of Golaghat distrcit it forms a larger complex of wilderness. The proposal for this sanctuary was made in 1993.
Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary is a 26.22 km2 (10.12 sq mi) wildlife sanctuary situated on the foothills of Himalayas bordering Bhutan in the north and in Udalguri district and Baksa District of Assam, India. This sanctuary was named after the river Bornadi which flows on its western border. It is 30 km (19 mi) from Tangla town and 130 km (81 mi) from Guwahati. The sanctuary was established in 1980 to protect the hispid hare and pigmy hog. It is home to many birds such as the white-capped redstart, the blue magpie, deer and leopard.
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Dehing Patkai Landscape, located in the Upper Assam, stretches for over roughly 600 square kilometres and comprises three large blocks of forests and several forest fragments. The forest is classified as a lowland Tropical Wet Evergreen Forest (Dipterocarpus-Mesua). It falls under Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. Due to its biodiversity and significance for elephant habitat, parts of the landscape are recognised as Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve and 111 km2 is protected as the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary since 2004.
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