The name of the park is originated from the Manas River. The Manas river is a major tributary of Brahmaputra River, which passes through the heart of the national park.
History
The Manas National Park was declared a sanctuary on 1 October 1928 with an area of 360 km2 (140 sq mi). Manas bio reserve was created in 1973. Prior to the declaration of the sanctuary, it was a reserved forest called Manas R.F. and North Kamrup R.F. It was used by the Cooch Behar royal family and Raja of Gauripur as a hunting reserve. In 1951 and 1955, the area was increased to 391 km2 (151 sq mi). It was declared a World Heritage Site in December 1985 by UNESCO. Kahitama R.F. the Kokilabari R.F. and the Panbari R.F. were added in the year 1990 to form the Manas National Park. In 1992, UNESCO declared it as a world heritage site in danger due to heavy poaching and terrorist activities. On 25 February 2008, the area was increased to 500 km2 (190 sq mi). On 21 June 2011, it was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger and was commended for its efforts in preservation.[5]
Human history
There is only one forest village, Pagrang, in the core of the national park. Apart from this village 56 more villages surround the park. Many more fringe villages are directly or indirectly dependent on the park.
Geography
Political Geography: The park area falls in the following districts: Chirang, Baksa in the autonomous territorial region, i.e BTR in the state of Assam in India.
A view of mountains from the park
The park is divided into three ranges. The western range is based at Panbari, the central at Bansbari near Barpeta Road, and the eastern at Bhuiyapara near Pathsala. The ranges are not well connected; while two major rivers need to be forded in going from the centre to the Panbari, there is a rough trail (the Daimari road) connecting the centre to the eastern range. Most visitors come to Bansbari and then spend some time inside the forest at Mathanguri on the Manas river at the Bhutan border.
Physical Geography: Manas is located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalaya and is densely forested. The Manas river flows through the west of the park and is the main river within it. It is a major tributary of Brahmaputra river and splits into two separate rivers, the Bwrsi and Bholkaduba as it reaches the plains. Five other smaller rivers also flow through the national park which lies on a wide, low-lying alluvial terrace spreading out below the foothills of the outer Himalaya. The Manas river also serves as an international border dividing India and Bhutan. The bedrock of the savanna area in the north of the park is made up of limestone and sandstone, whereas the grasslands in the south of the park stand on deep deposits of fine alluvium. The combination of Sub-Himalayan Bhabar Terai formation along with the riverine succession continuing up to Sub-Himalayan mountain forest makes it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. The park is 950 square kilometres (370 sq mi) in the area and is situated at an altitude of 61–110 metres (200–361 ft) above mean sea level.
Climate: The minimum temperature is around 15 °C (59 °F) and the maximum temperature is around 37 °C (99 °F).
Heavy rainfall occurs between May and September. The annual average rainfall is around 333 centimetres (131 in).
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 sanctuary 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 park is well known for species of rare and endangered wildlife that are not found anywhere else in the world like the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog.
^Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press; Washington, DC. pp. 300-301
^Chamundeeswari, D.; Vasantha, J.; Gopalakrishnan, S.; Sukumar, E. (2004). "Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of Trewia polycarpa roots". Fitoterapia. 75 (7–8): 740–744. doi:10.1016/j.fitote.2004.07.001. PMID15567254.
^Choudhury, A.U. (2006) Birds of Manas National Park. Gibbon Books & The Rhino Foundation for Nature in North East India, Guwahati, India. 84pp
