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Jim Corbett National
Park India
Biogeographical
Province -4.08.04 (Indus-Ganges Monsoon Forest)
Geographical Location-Lies in the
foothills of the Outer Himalaya within the districts of Nainital and Pauri
Garhwal, and occupies the middle reaches of the Ram Ganga. The park is bounded
to the east by the Ramnagar-Ranikhet road, to the south and south-west by the
Kotdwara-Ramnagar forest road, to the north-west by Ramganga Reservoir and to
the north-east by various topographical features within the catchment area of
the Ram Ganga. Boundaries are defined in Notification No. 4229/ZIV-A-867-62 of
24 August 1966. 29°25'-29°39'N, 78°44'-79°07'E
Date and History of Establishment-
Established as India's first national park on 8 August 1936, being the date on
which the Uttar Pradesh National Parks Act came into force, and named Hailey
National Park after Sir William Malcolm Hailey, then Governor of Uttar Pradesh
who was instrumental in its creation. Following independence, its name was
changed to Ramganga National Park in 1954 and then in 1957 to its present name
Corbett National Park, in memory of Jim Corbett, the legendary hunter and
naturalist who had helped in marking out its boundaries and setting it up. With
the launching of Project Tiger on 1 April 1973, Corbett National Park was
selected as one of nine tiger reserves, and has the distinction of being chosen
as the venue for the inauguration of this project on 1 February 1974.
Area -52,082ha. The area of the national
park was increased from 32,375ha to its present size in 1966 to enhance its
integrity, and to compensate for the land later submerged by the construction of
a hydel dam at Kalagarh The park is contiguous with Sonanadi Sanctuary
(30,118ha) along its western boundary.
Land Tenure- Provincial government.
Villages on the boundary enjoy grazing rights within the park.
Altitude- Ranges from about 400m to the
peak of Kanda at 1,210m on the northern extremity.
Physical Features- The park extends from
the Outer Himalaya, locally represented by the Siwaliks which run through its
middle in an east-west direction, across Patli Dun to the foothills of the
Middle Himalaya. The Siwaliks are distinct from the Himalaya, being formed from
the latter's erosion products of sand, gravel and conglomerates, but are
scarcely distinguishable here in western Kumaon because they abut almost
directly onto the Himalayan chain. Patli Dun is an elevated valley with a
virtually level floor through which flows the Ram Ganga,
the only source of perennial water. This river flows westwards and widens
beyond Khinanauli, giving rise to 'sheeshum islands' colonised by sheeshum
Dalbergia sissoo. West of Dhikala, the sheeshum islands give way to winding
strips of alluvial grassland or 'chaurs', being land that was cultivated in
historic times. The chaurs provided important grazing for wildlife but, with the
completion of the Kalagarh Dam in 1974, they and the sheeshum islands have been
inundated as far back as Khinanauli. The reservoir, which was filled to capacity
by 1979-1980, covers 4,220ha of prime wildlife habitat. Geological strata
consist of: recent alluvial and slightly older 'bhabar' deposits; Siwalik
Series, with conglomerate, sandrock and Nahan sandstone; and older Himalayan
rocks, mostly of dark blue-grey limestone with a few grits and shales and
confined to part of Kanda Block. Soils tend to be sandy and shallow on the
southern slopes of the Siwaliks, sandy or sandy with loam on northern slopes,
and deep, fresh and stony in the duns (Singh, 1974; Singh, 1985; Lamba, n.d.).
Climate- There are three distinct seasons:
cold (November to February), hot (March to mid-June) and rainy (mid-June to
October). Mean monthly maximum temperatures range from 26°C in January to 44°C
in June, and minimum temperatures from 2°C in January to 21°C in August, based
on data for 1980-1984. Annual rainfall varies from 1400mm in the outer hills to
2800mm in the upper hills, with 1500-1600mm in the main Ram Ganga Valley (Singh,
1985). Conditions are humid throughout the year, relative humidity rising to 98%
in the monsoon and seldom falling below 57% even in the driest period
(November). A wind locally known as 'dadu' blows down the valley from about 9 pm
to 8 am, lowering the night temperature. In the hot season, it is followed by a
hot wind blowing up-valley from 10 am to 8 pm. During this season a thick haze
of suspended dust develops which is only cleared by thunderstorms (Lamba, n.d.).
There are 13 meteorological stations in the park, with recordings dating back to
1978 (Singh, 1985).
Vegetation- The park is notable for its
extensive sal Shorea robusta forests which cover nearly 73% of its entirety
(Singh, 1985). A frequent associate of sal is haldu Adina cardifolia. On higher
ridges bakli Anoqeissus latifolia is predominant, and other associates are
khetwa Piliostigma malabaricum, gurial Bauhinia racemosa, pula Kydia calycina,
dhauri Lagerstroemia parviflora, amaltas Cassia fistula, bhilawa Semicarpus
anacardium, amla Emblica officinalis and ber Ziziphus mauritiana. Less common
species are papri Holoptelea integrifolia, kumbhi Carya arborea and mahwa
Madhuca indica. Trichoniya Wendlandia heynei, rohni Mallotus philippinensis and
jamun Syzygium cumini occur along dry river beds in exposed areas. The Dalbergia
sissoo-Acacia catechu association along the Ram Ganga is a notable feature.
Amongst the shrubs Clerodendrum viscosum, Colebrookis oppositifolia, Adhatoda
vasica, Helicteres isora and Woodfordia fruticosa are predominant, while
climbers such as Milletia auriculata, Cryptolepis buchanani, Porana paniculata,
Phanera vahlii and Vallaris solanacea are common. Bamboos are common in some
areas. Palms include Phoenix acauliea and the rare Wallichia densiflora. The
only indigenous conifer is chir pine Pinus roxburghii. Grasses such as Themeda
arundinacea, Thysanolena maxima and Vetiveria zizanioides are abundant in the
chaurs of Patli Dun, while on burnt soil they are associated with herbs such as
Vicoa indica, Trichodesma indicum, Lactuca sp., Crotalaria sp., Desmodium sp.
and Polygala sp. In the other open areas common grasses include Eulaliopsis
binata, Apluda mutica, Oplismenus compositus and Eragrostis uniloides. The
comparatively rare ground orchids Zeuxine sp. and Eulophia sp., and also the
dwarf understorey shrub Pygmae opremna herbacea have a scattered distribution.
Common weeds are Lantana sp., Acanthospermum hispidum and Xanthium strumericum (Lamba,
n.d.). A more detailed description of the vegetation is given by Singh (1974),
Pant (1977) and Jain and Sastry (1983). A total of 488 species of plants has
been recorded in the park (Pant, 1976; Pant et
al., 1981).
Fauna- The park is noted for its rich and
diverse fauna, which includes 50 species of mammals (Lamba, n.d.), 575 of birds
(Lamba, n.d.), 33 of reptiles (Bedi, 1985), seven of amphibians (Bedi, 1985),
seven of fish (Bedi, 1985) and 37 of dragonflies (Singh and Prasad, 1977).
Corbett is an important refuge for Indian elephant Elephas maximus (E). Also
notable among the large mammals are leopard cat Felis bengalensis, tiger
Panthera tigris (E), wild dog Cuon alpinus (V), hog deer Axis porcinus, and
Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata, all of which used to
exist in large numbers throughout the terai of Uttar Pradesh but are now rarely
seen outside the park. Swamp deer Cervus duvauceli (E) became locally extinct
about 20 years ago. Spotted deer Axis axis, hog deer and Indian porcupine
Hystrix indica populations were severely affected by the inundation of much
grassland. Although spotted deer and hog deer populations dispersed elsewhere,
the former showed a fall in birth rate from 22.2 to 4.1 fawns per 100 females in
three years. Worst affected was the porcupine population. By 1978 its relative
density had dropped to 20% of that recorded in 1976-1977. The creation of a
reservoir also denied elephants access to an important traditional migration
route (Lamba, n.d.). Estimates of population sizes for large mammals in 1987
are: 90 tiger, 42 leopard, 178 elephant, 16,801 spotted deer, 2,485 sambar, 188
hog deer, 993 Indian muntjac Muntiacus muntjak, 27 sloth bear Melursus ursinus
(V), 1,907 wild boar Sus scrofa and 340 goral Nemorhaedus goral (Ashok Singh,
pers. comm., 1988) Census data are also available for 1983/1984 (Singh, 1985).
The common otter Lutra lutra population is estimated to be about 400 animals
(Sharma and Ashok, 1988). The avifauna is particularly interesting on account of
the overlap between high altitude and plains, and eastern and western races of a
number of species. The park attracts a large number of migratory birds. The
river is a source of attraction to many winter migrants. A number of high
altitude species visit during winter, and summer too sees many visitors. Being
situated on a migratory route, the park is also visited by quite a few passage
migrants. Among the birds that have suffered heavily on account of large-scale
inundation are the passerines that roost and breed in smaller trees, bushes and
reed-beds,
notably red ardvart Estrilde amandava, spotted munia Lonchura punctuta, weaver
bird Ploceus philippinus, black-throated baya P. bengalensis and common myna
Acridotheres tristis. These changes in habitat, however, have benefited a large
number of resident and migratory water birds. Populations of cormorants
Phalacrocorax spp., darter Anhinga rufa, herons and egrets (Ardeidae), storks (Ciconidae),
fishing eagles Haliaeetus leucoryphus and Icthyophaga nana, and kingfishers (Alcedinidae)
have increased many fold, while gulls Larus spp. and moorhen Gallinula chloropus
have since become residents (Lamba, n.d.). Of the reptiles, both mugger
Crocodylus palustris (V) and gharial Gavialis gangeticus (E) are present.
Populations had increased from an estimated 16 mugger and four gharial in 1974
(Whitaker, 1974) to 37 and 17, respectively, by 1983 (Singh, 1985). The increase
in the gharial population was due to the release of 12 young reared in
captivity. By 1987 there were an estimated 43 mugger and 47 gharial (Ashok
Singh, pers. comm., 1988).
Cultural Heritage -Patli Dun was formerly
part of the princely state of Tehri Garhwal. At that time its forests were
cleared to make the area less vulnerable to attacks from the Rohilas. Later, the
Raja of Tehri ceded part of his state to the British in return for their
assistance in driving out the Gurkhas. Boksas, tribals from the terai, settled
in the area and practised shifting cultivation, but they were evicted in the
early 1860s under Major Ramsay (Singh, 1974; Bedi, 1985; Singh,
1985). |
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"We were both very impressed with all aspects of the
tour. It went smoothly, to plan and exceeded our
expectations Mrs. & Mr.Paul Johnston, London, Trip
Big Five of India." |
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