Nameri National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in the

Sonitpur Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur. Etymology The name of the is derived from a mythological story fo ...

District of Assam, India, about 35 km from

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

. Nameri is about 9 km from Chariduar, the nearest village. Nameri shares its northern boundary with the

Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, is a Project Tiger reserve in the East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. The reserve is protected by the Department of Environment and Forest of Arunachal Pradesh. ...

of Arunachal Pradesh. Together they constitute an area of over , of which Nameri has a total area of . Nameri National Park was declared as

Tiger Reserve Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of the Bengal tiger in its natural habitats, protectin ...

in the year 1999-2000, and is the second Tiger reserve of Assam after

Manas Tiger Reserve Manas may refer to: Philosophy and mythology *Manas, the Pali and Sanskrit term for "mind"; see ** Manas (early Buddhism) ** Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism *''Ramcharitmanas'', a retelling of the Ramay ...

. It has two core areas: Nameri National Park and Sonai- Rupai Wildlife (Satellite Core of the Nameri Tiger Reserve). The river Jia-Bhoroli is the lifeline of Nameri, which flows along the southern boundary of the park from northwest to southeast. In the east, the river Bor-Dikorai is a tributary of river Jia-Bhoroli, flowing along the southern boundary from northeast to southwest.

Rivers

NAMERI_NATIONAL_PARK_,_ASSAM,_INDIA,_Wild_Life

The

Kameng River The Kameng River (previously named Bharali River, now called Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh and Jiabharali (Jia Bharali) in Assam) in the eastern Himalayan mountains, originates in Tawang district from the glacial lake below snow-capped Gori Chen ...

of Assam was famous since the time of British for the golden mahseer angling. The angling was officially banned in 2011. The main Rivers are Jia- Bhoroli and Bor Dikorai. Other tributaries of these two rivers are: Diji, Dinai, Nameri, Khari, Upper Dikiri which originates in the Arunachal Himalayas and flows through Pakke TR and Nameri TR.

History

The park was declared a reserve forest on 17 October 1978. It was set up as a Nameri Sanctuary on 18 September 1985 with an area of as a part of Naduar Forest Reserve. Until then the Nameri National Park was heavily used for logging. Another was added on 15 November 1998 when it was officially established as a National Park.

Flora

Nameri National Park harbours over 600 floral species. Some notable species are Gmelina arborea, Michelia champaca,

Amoora wallichi ''Aglaia'' is a genus of 117 species of woody dioecious trees belonging to the Mahogany family ( Meliaceae). These trees occur in the subtropical and tropical forests of Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and the Pacific. Some species are impor ...

Chukrasia tabularis ''Chukrasia tabularis'', the Indian mahogany, is a deciduous, tropical forest tree species in the family Meliaceae. It is native to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Also i ...

, Ajar, Urium poma, Bhelu, Agaru, Rudraksha, Bonjolokia, Hatipolia akhakan, Hollock, Nahor. It is home for orchids like Dendrobium, Cymbidium and Cypripedioideae.

Fauna

A pair of White- Dragontail butterfly in Nameri- Photographed by Debasish Buragohain

Nameri National Park provides habitat for Bengal tiger, Indian leopard,

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 ...

, marbled cat, leopard cat, hog deer, sambar, dhole, gaur, barking deer, wild boar,

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as Vulnerable species, vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss ...

, Himalayan black bear, capped langur and Indian giant squirrel. The

white winged wood duck The white-winged duck or white-winged wood duck (''Asarcornis scutulata'') is a large species of duck, formerly placed in the genus ''Cairina'' with the Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and allied with the dabbling ducks. However, mtDNA cyto ...

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 ...

, wreathed hornbill,

rufous necked hornbill The rufous-necked hornbill (''Aceros nipalensis'') is a species of hornbill in Bhutan, northeastern India, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is locally extinct in Nepal due to hunting and significant lo ...

, black stork,

ibisbill The ibisbill (''Ibidorhyncha struthersii'') is a bird related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Ibidorhynchidae. It is grey with a white belly, red legs and long down-curved bill, and a black face and black breas ...

, blue-bearded bee-eaters, babblers, plovers and many other birds are also present. A pair of Asian fairy Bluebird in Nameri

In 2005, 374 bird species were recorded in Nameri National Park.

Conflicts and threats

Nameri faces two threats: One is due to continued official logging in the area of

. The other major threat for Nameri is human/animal conflict due to around 3000 cattle grazing the forest. There is another human/animal conflict due to the vast group of elephants in Nameri. The human-elephant conflict arose mainly due to herds of elephants raiding crops, damaging homes, and killing cattle. In a study published in November 2011, researchers found correlation between the human-elephant conflict and forest cover dropping below 30-40%. There are several cases of elephant deaths. In 2001 there were 18 elephant deaths.

References

External links

* {{Tiger Reserves Of India Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests Tiger reserves of India National parks in Assam Tourism in Northeast India Tourism in Assam 1978 establishments in Assam Protected areas established in 1978