Rajiv Gandhi 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 ...
located in
Rameswaram of
Kadapa District
Kadapa district (officially: YSR district; formerly: Cuddapah district) is one of the twenty six districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. On 19 August 2005 nomenclature of “Cuddapah” has been changed as “Kadapa” by the Governm ...
,
Andhra Pradesh,
India.
Its area is about 2.4 square kilometers of tropical dry
deciduous forest mostly growing on a sandy soil.
It lies on the north bank of the
Penna River
Penna (also known as Pinakini, Pennar, Penner, Penneru (Telugu), Pennai (Tamil)) is a river of southern India. This is a unique river in world where after originating from Nandi hills, it flows as two different streams, one in North and South ...
.
History
The area was originally noticed as "Rameshvaram National Park" on 19 November 2005 and on 26 December 2005 the name was changed to "Rajiv Gandhi National Park".
The 500 meter eco-zone around the park was noticed on 15 May 2017.
Flora
Tree species include
Dalbergia sissoo,
Grewia villosa
''Grewia villosa'' is a shrub, often scrambling and hardly exceeding 4 m in height. Leaves are fairly large, serrated and heart-shaped. It grows naturally, mainly in dry habitats. It is common in most of the semi-arid parts of Eastern Africa but ...
, and
Gymnema sylvestre.
Fauna
The approximately fifty bird species in the area include
little egrets,
parakeets, and
peacocks.
Invertebrates like Scorpions, Spiders, variety of insects like Butterflies, Grasshoppers, Crickets, etc. abound this forest. Amphibian fauna is represented with species like Bull frog, Common Indian toad, etc. Reptilian fauna includes like Russell's earth boa, Russell's viper, Common skink, etc. Over 50 species of birds like Peacocks, Little egrets, Parakeets; etc are found in this forest. Mammals like Spotted deer, Common mongoose, Black napped hare reside in this sand dune ecosystem.
References
{{Coord, 14, 43, 37, N, 78, 33, 39, E, display=title
Kadapa district
National parks in Andhra Pradesh
2005 establishments in Andhra Pradesh
Protected areas established in 2005