Dehing Patkai National Park is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam and covers an area of

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary on 13 June 2004. On 13 December 2020 Government of Assam upgraded it into a national park. On 9 June 2021 Forest Department of Assam officially notified it as a national park. It is located in the

Dehing Patkai Landscape Dehing Patkai Landscape, located in the Upper Assam, stretches for over roughly 600 square kilometres and comprises three large blocks of forests (Jeypore, Upper Dehing West Block and Upper Dehing East Block) and several forest fragments. The fore ...

which is a dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest. The rainforest stretches for more than 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".

Climate

The climate of the region is mostly tropical with an annual rainfall of more than 4,000 mm. Monthly precipitation is at least 60 mm.

Wildlife

Fauna

Being a rainforest, this National Park is very rich in biodiversity. It is an ideal habitat for non-human primates. The species are slow loris, Assamese macaque,

stump-tailed macaque The stump-tailed macaque (''Macaca arctoides''), also called the bear macaque, is a species of macaque native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. In India, it occurs south of the Brahmaputra River, in the northeastern part of the country. Its range ...

, pig-tailed macaque,

Rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally b ...

, capped langur and hoolock gibbon. So far, nearly 50

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

species, 47

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

species and 310 butterfly species have been recorded. Other noteworthy mammals found in this national park includes Chinese pangolin, dhole or Asian wild dog, Himalayan black bear, Malayan sun bear, crab-eating mongoose, small-toothed palm civet, binturong, jungle cat, leopard cat,

Asian golden cat The Asian golden cat (''Catopuma temminckii'') is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008, and is threatened by poach ...

, marbled cat, Bengal tiger,

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called the mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China. In the early 19th century, a cl ...

, Asian elephant, gaur, red serow, sambar, barking deer, Red giant flying squirrel, crestless Himalayan porcupine and

Asiatic bush-tailed porcupine Asiatic refers to something related to Asia. Asiatic may also refer to: * Asiatic style, a term in ancient stylistic criticism associated with Greek writers of Asia Minor * In the context of Ancient Egypt, beyond the borders of Egypt and the cont ...

Avifauna

Dihing Patkai rainforest harbours about 293 bird species, belonging to 174 genera and 51 families. The majority is resident (63.7%), some are winter visitors (23.1% ), and very few are summer visitors (2.5%). About 10.7% are altitudinal migrants, coming mainly from the higher reaches of the western, central and eastern Himalayas. Avifauna includes white-cheeked hill partridge, kaleej pheasant,

grey peacock pheasant The gray peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron bicalcaratum''), also known as Burmese peacock-pheasant, is a large Asian member of the order Galliformes. Taxonomy In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a descript ...

, Oriental darter, lesser adjutant, white-winged wood duck, pied falconet,

slender-billed vulture The slender-billed vulture (''Gyps tenuirostris'') is an Old World vulture species native to sub-Himalayan regions and Southeast Asia. It is Critically Endangered since 2002 as the population on the Indian subcontinent has declined rapidly. As ...

, white-backed vulture, greater spotted eagle, besra,

black baza The black baza (''Aviceda leuphotes'') is a small bird of prey found in the forests of Northeast India, the eastern Himalayas, China and Southeast Asia. Many populations are migratory, including those in the Indian region, which winter in the sou ...

, osprey, pale-capped pigeon, green imperial pigeon,

mountain imperial pigeon The mountain imperial pigeon (''Ducula badia''), also known as the maroon-backed imperial pigeon or Hodgson's imperial pigeon, is a species of bird in the pigeon and dove family with a wide range in southeastern Asia. Taxonomy The Malabar im ...

red-breasted parakeet The red-breasted parakeet (''Psittacula alexandri'') is among the more widespread species of the genus and is the species which has the most geographical variations. It is easily identified by the large red patch on its breast. An alternative nam ...

, Oriental bay owl, tawny fish owl,

great pied hornbill The great hornbill (''Buceros bicornis''), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It ...

, brown hornbill, wreathed hornbill,

yellow-vented warbler The yellow-vented warbler (''Phylloscopus cantator'') is a species of leaf warbler (family Phylloscopidae). It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, an ...

hill myna ''Gracula'' is a genus of mynas, tropical members of the starling family of birds found in southern Asia and introduced to Florida in the United States. Taxonomy The genus ''Gracula'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnae ...

and scaly thrush. However, it is the white-einged wood duck, the State Bird of Assam for which the park is justly famous.

Flora

The different trees of this four-layered rainforest are laden with many exotic species of orchids and bromeliads. There is an abundance of ferns, epiphytes, wild banana, orchids, arums, climbers and lianas in this humid forest habitat. Some of the important tree species found in this forest area are – Hollong, Mekai, Dhuna, Uriyam, Nahar, Chamkothal, Bher, Hollock, Nahor, Ou–tenga (elephant apple), different species of Ficus spp. etc. The towering Hollong tree which is also the State Tree of Assam dominates the emergent layer of this rainforest. The forest type according of Champion and Seth's classification is Upper Assam valley tropical evergreen forest. The important species of over wood are Dipterocarpus macrocarpus, Mesua ferrea, Castanopsis indica, Shorea assamica, Vatica lanceaefolia, Amoora wallichii, Dysoxylum binectiferum etc. The other species found in understorey are

Garcinia lanceifolia ''Garcinia lanceifolia'' is an endemic medicinal evergreen plant with edible fruit native to Asia, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar. It has been used by various ethnic communities across North-Eastern India for treatment of dysentery, dyspepsia and ...

, Michelia muni, Baccaurea sapida, Bischofia javanica, Myristica limifolia etc. The shrub and herb layer has Glochidion spp., Alpinia spp., Mallotus philippinensis, wild banana, tree fern, pepper etc. The ground cover mainly has Melastoma, Leea and other species.

Ethnic groups

The Dihing Patkai Forest region has a rich cultural heritage. There are more than a dozen different ethnic groups living in the area including the indigenous Assamese communities, particularly Tai Phake, Khamyang, Khampti, Singpho,

Nocte The Nocte are an ethnic Naga people, Naga tribe primarily living in Arunachal. They number about 111,679 (Census 2011), mainly found in the Patkai hills of Tirap District, Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Ethnically related to the Kon ...

Chutia The Chutia people (Pron: or ''Sutia'') are an ethnic group that are native to Assam and historically associated with the Chutia kingdom. However, after the kingdom was absorbed into the Ahom kingdom in 1523–24, the Chutia population was ...

Ahom Ahom may refer to: *Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam * Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people *Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people *Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language * Ahom kin ...

, Kaibarta,

Moran Moran may refer to: Places Antarctica * Moran Bluff, Marie Byrd Land * Moran Buttress, Marie Byrd Land * Moran Glacier, Alexander Island Asia * Moran Town, Assam, India * Moran, Israel, a kibbutz * Moran Hill, North Korea * Moran Station, a s ...

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

, and Nepali people. Tea-tribes were brought by the British to work in the tea plantations.

References

External links

Wildlife Heaven – Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary
{{Coord missing, Assam Tinsukia district Rainforests Dibrugarh district National parks in Assam Protected areas established in 2004 2004 establishments in Assam