Dibru-Saikhowa National Park

Dibru-Saikhowa

The Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is a national park in northeast India . The park is located in the state of Assam and extends over an area of ​​approximately 765 square kilometers on the banks of the Brahmaputra. It is home to threatened large mammals such as elephants, water buffalo and tigers, as well as numerous species of birds.

founding

The Dibru area was designated as a forest reserve in 1890, Saikhowa was attached in 1929 and the area was declared a Dibru-Saikhowa game reserve in 1986. In 1997 it was made a biosphere reserve, and since 1999 Dibru-Saikhowa has been a national park. The national park covers an area of ​​765 square kilometers, 340 of which are designated as the core zone.

description

The national park is located on the south bank of the Brahmaputra and consists of alluvial plains, which are dominated by tropical forests, swamps and grass areas. There are a total of 680 plant species in the national park. The numerous water arms form a diverse mosaic of habitats. About 30,000 people live in the area of ​​influence of the national park, who with their numerous herds of cattle repeatedly come into conflict with the nature conservation concept of the national park. Around 10,000 are directly dependent on the reserve's natural resources.

fauna

Dibru-Saikhowa is home to 35 species of mammals, 502 species of birds, 43 species of reptiles and 104 species of fish. There are also 105 different types of butterflies. These include numerous threatened species.

The sanctuary is home to one of the most important Asian elephant populations in northeast India. In 2002 over 300 elephants were counted in the national park. The count in 2008 only showed 160 elephants, but it is likely to be too low, as many migratory animals were probably not recorded. The national park is one of the few protected areas in the world where wild water buffalo can be found. Over 400 of the huge wild cattle live in the park. The largest predator on the reserve is the Bengal tiger . According to estimates based on track counts, about 30 tigers live in Dibru-Saikhowa. With the leopard and clouded leopard, there are two other big cats. In addition, the sloth bear is part of the fauna of the area. A special feature are wild horses, which presumably escaped in World War II and are now living wild in the park. In 2008 48 horses were counted. Other larger herbivores are Indian muntjak deer , pig deer , sambar deer and wild boar . Smaller predators are represented by golden jackal , Eurasian otter , small Indian civet , small mongoose , Indian mongoose , reed cat and bengal cat . Six species of primate populate the reserve. These are Hoolock -Gibbon, capped langur , rhesus monkey , Assam Macaque , northern pig-tailed macaque and slow loris . The Chinese pangolin is also one of the park's inhabitants.

The wealth of bird species is enormous. About 25% of all bird species found in India have been identified in the national park. The national park is one of the last refuges for various rare species such as the common sun duck , the bearded bustard and the Bengal vulture .

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Coordinates: 27 ° 38 ′ 59.4 "  N , 95 ° 20 ′ 25.1"  E