Royal Manas National Park is
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
's oldest
national park
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...
, and the
Royal government considers it the "conservation showpiece of the Kingdom" and a "genetic depository" for valuable plants. It has an area of and covers eastern
Sarpang District
Sarpang District (Dzongkha: གསར་སྤང་རྫོང་ཁག་; Wylie: ''Gsar-spang rdzong-khag''; also known as "Geylegphug") is one of the 20 dzongkhags (districts) comprising Bhutan. Sarpang covers a total area of 1,946 sq km and ...
, the western half of
Zhemgang District, and western
Pemagatshel District
Pemagatshel is one of the 20 districts of Bhutan.
Language
Native speak Tshangla (Sharchopkha), an East Bodish language that is the ''lingua franca'' of eastern Bhutan.
Population
Pemagatshel district, as of 2005, had a population of 13,864 ...
.
It is connected via "biological corridors" to
Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary,
Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park
Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (formerly Black Mountains National Park) covers an area of in central Bhutan. It protects a large area of the Black Mountains (Bhutan), Black Mountains, a sub−range of the Himalayan Range System.
The park ...
,
Phrumsengla National Park, and
Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary. Royal Manas also directly abuts the
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
Manas National Park
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 Ramaya ...
in
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, India, to the south. It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan's Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion.
Entry is prohibited to the public.
History
Royal Manas was one of the earliest focuses of the Bhutan Trust Fund in the early 1990s, receiving infrastructure development and baseline biological and socio-economic assessments. Bhutan's first park management plan was prepared for Royal Manas, and guided management of other parks.
Natural history
Flora
Habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s in Royal Manas National Park range from lowland tropical forests to permanent ice fields.
Ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
s in the park include
Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests
The Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests is a temperate broadleaf forest ecoregion found in the middle elevations of the eastern Himalayas, including parts of Nepal, India, and Bhutan. These forests have an outstanding richness of wildlife.
Settin ...
and
Himalayan subtropical pine forests
The Himalayan subtropical pine forests are a large subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion covering portions of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Geography
This huge pine forest stretches for 3000 km across the lower elevations of the gre ...
.
Royal Manas also produces several plant species used in food, commerce, medicine, and religious rituals. About 5,000 people live in remote, isolated villages within the park.
Fauna
Royal Manas National Park is home to Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna.
The tiger is estimated to have been present i ...
s, elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...
s, gaur
The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...
(''Bos gaurus''), as well as rarer golden langur
Gee's golden langur (''Trachypithecus geei''), also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of Western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan. Long considered sac ...
(''Presbytis geei''), pygmy hog
The pygmy hog (''Porcula salvania'') is the rarest species of pig in the world today, and is the only species in the genus ''Porcula''. It is also the smallest species of pig in the world, with its piglets being small enough to fit in one's pock ...
(''Sus salvanius''), hispid hare
The hispid hare (''Caprolagus hispidus''), also called Assam rabbit and bristly rabbit, is a leporid native to South Asia, whose historic range extended along the southern foothills of the Himalayas. Today, its habitat is highly fragmented with ...
(''Caprolagus hispidus''), and Ganges river dolphin (''Platanista''). It is also the only Bhutanese park inhabited by the one-horned rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros unicornis'') and wild water buffalo
The wild water buffalo (''Bubalus arnee''), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large Bovinae, bovine native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as ''Endangered species, Endangered'' i ...
(''Bubalus arnee''). Hundreds of species of birds—including four species of hornbill
Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandibl ...
s: rufous-necked, wreathed, pied and great Indian—also live in the vast park.
The Manas River and its tributaries are home to three species of rare migratory game fish called mahseer
Mahseer is the common name used for the genera '' Tor'', ''Neolissochilus'', '' Naziritor'' and ''Parator'' in the family Cyprinidae (carps). The name is, however, more often restricted to members of the genus ''Tor''.Sen TK, Jayaram KC, 1982. Th ...
: the deep-bodied mahseer ('' Tor tor''), golden mahseer (''Tor putitora
''Tor putitora'', the Putitor mahseer, Himalayan mahseer, or golden mahseer, is an endangered species of cyprinid fish that is found in rapid streams, riverine pools, and lakes in the Himalayan region. Its native range is within the basins of th ...
''), and chocolate mahseer or Katle ('' Acrossocheilus hexangonolepis'').
See also
* List of the national parks of Bhutan
* List of protected areas of Bhutan
* Manas National Park
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 Ramaya ...
— adjacent in Assam, India.
References
{{authority control
National parks of Bhutan
Protected areas of Bhutan
Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests
Himalayan subtropical pine forests
Pemagatshel District
Sarpang District
Zhemgang District
Protected areas established in 1966
Important Bird Areas of Bhutan