Brief description- This park is one of the last areas in eastern India almost undisturbed by man. It is a forest-edged riverine grassland maintained by fire and annual floods inhabited by the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, as well as a wide diversity of animals, including tigers, elephants, leopards, bears, several species of deer and thousands of birds.

Country-{India}Assam

Biological Provience-Burma Monsoon Forest (4.09.04)

Geographical Location-Situated on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River at the foot of the Mikir / Karbi Anglong Hills, about 8km from Bokakhat and 220 km east of Gauhati, the Assam state capital. National Highway No. 37 forms the southern boundary. 26°30'-26°45'N,  93°05'-93°40'E.

Date and History of Establishment- 1908: Originally established as a reserved forest to protect the one-horned rhinoceros, then in 1916 as a game reserve and a wildlife sanctuary in 1950; opened to the public in 1938; 1969: First notification as a national park; 1974: Final notification issued.

Area-37,822ha. Originally 42,996ha: ~5,114ha lost to erosion of the northern boundary by the Brahmaputra (Lahan & Sonowal,1973). An addition of some 45,450ha is proposed to include the Brahmaputra River to the north and part of the Mikir Hills to the south.

Land Tenure- State, in Golaghat and Naogaon districts.

Altitude- Ranges from 40m to 80m. South of the park the Mikir Hills rise to about 1,220m.

Physical Features- The Park is 40km long by 13km wide. It lies in the flood plain of the Brahmaputra River, sloping very gradually from east to west against a backdrop of the foothills and snow-covered peaks of the eastern Himalayas. The riverine habitat consists primarily of dense tall grassland interspersed with open forests, interconnecting streams and numerous small flood-formed lakes or bheels which cover some 5% of its area. The whole park is occasionally flooded for 5-10 days, and three-quarters of the western, Baguri, area is annually submerged. The
soils are alluvial (Spillett1966). The wetlands are described by Scott (1989).

Climate- Three seasons can be distinguished. Summer, which is dry and windy, extends from mid-February to May with mean maximum and minimum temperatures of 37°C and 7°C, respectively. The monsoon occurs from June to September when conditions are hot and humid. Most of the mean annual rainfall of 2220mm falls during this season. During winter, from November to March, conditions are mild and dry, and mean maximum and minimum temperatures are 25°C and 5°C respectively (Kushwaha & Unni, 1986).

Vegetation- There are four main types of vegetation: alluvial inundated grasslands and reedbeds, alluvial savanna woodland, tropical moist mixed deciduous forests and tropical semi-evergreen forests (Talukdar, 1995). Based on Landsat data for 1986, coverage by different vegetation types is as follows: tall grasses 41%, short grasses 11%, open jungle 29%, rivers and water bodies 8%, sand 6% and swamps 4%, (Kushwaha & Unni, 1986). Grasslands predominate in the west, with dense thickets of 5-6 meter tall elephant grasses on the higher ground and short grasses which provide good grazing on the lower ground around the bheels. These have been maintained and fertilised by annual flooding and controlled burning for thousands of years which has prevented the woodland from encroaching, and ensures a supply of grazing land. However, the occasional high floods can devastate the smaller fauna. Among the different high grass species, Saccharum spontaneum, S.naranga, Imperata cylindrica, Erianthus spp.,Arundo donax and Phragmites karka predominate. Among the grasses are numerous forbs and scattered trees of Bombax ceiba a dominant of savanna woodland, Dillenia indica in the swamp forest, Careya arborea and Emblica officinalis. The impenetrable semi-evergreen forests in the central and eastern areas are dominated by trees such as Aphanamixis polystachya, Talauma hodgsonii, Dillenia indica, Garcinia tinctoria, Ficus rumphii, Cinnamomum bejolghota, and species of Syzygium. In the tropical semi-evergreen forests common trees and shrubs are Albizia procera, Duabanga grandiflora, Lagerstroemia speciosa, Crateva unilocularis, Sterculia urens, Grewia serrulata, Mallotus philippensis, Bridelia retusa, Aphania rubra, Leea indica and L. umbraculifera (Jain & Sastry,1983). There is a wide variety of aquatic flora along river banks and in the numerous pools; the destructive invader water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes is often cleared out by high floods.

Fauna- The park contains about 35 major mammals, including 15 of India's threatened Schedule I species. It harbours the world's largest population of Indian rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis (EN), which has increased from a few dozen in 1908 (Gee, 1964), some 670 in 1972 (Lahan & Sonowal,1973), 1,100 in 1988 (Martin & Vigne, 1989) to a more recent number, despite some 200 losses to poaching in the 1990s, of 1,500 (IUCN,2001). Indian elephant Elephas maximus (EN), estimated at 430 in 1972 (Lahan & Sonowal, 1973) were said to number 1,100 in 1996 (Jackman, 1996). Other mammals include a small population of hoolock gibbon Bunipithecus hoolock (VU), capped langur Presbytis pileata (VU), bristly hare Caprolagus hispidus (EN: 101 wild individuals in the world, Kavitha, 2001), sloth bear Melursus ursinus (VU:30*), hog badger Arctonyx collaris, otter Lutra lutra (VU), tiger Panthera tigris (EN;30*), leopard P. pardus (10), Ganges dolphin Platanista gangetica (EN), wild boar Sus scrofa (3,645), sambar Cervus unicolor (358), barasingha or swamp deer C. duvauceli (VU: 756), hog deer Axis porcinus, Indian muntjac Muntiacus muntjak (100*), water buffalo Bubalus bubalis (EN: 677) and gaur Bos frontalis (VU: 30). Population estimates are based on the 1972 census (*) by Lahan & Sonowal and 1984 census, detailed in Choudhury (1987). Elephants and other animals migrate with the advent of the monsoon southwards into the Mikir Hills and beyond to avoid the annual flooding of the National Park (Sinha,1981). A preliminary list of mammals is given by Spillett (1966). The avifauna comprises over 300 species (Choudhury, 1987). The numerous water bodies are rich reservoirs of food (including fish) and thousands of migratory birds, of over 100 species, visit the park seasonally from as far away as Siberia. There is a rookery of grey pelicans Pelecanus philippensis (VU) near Kaziranga village. Other
birds of interest include black-necked stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, lesser adjutant stork Leptoptilos javanicus (VU), Pallas's fish eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus (VU), grey-headed fish eagle Icthyophaga icthyaetus, crested serpent eagle Spilornis chela, perhaps 25-30 Bengal florican Houbaropsis bengalensis (EN), swamp partridge Francolinus gularis, grey peacock-pheasant Polyplectron bicalcaratum, great pied hornbill Buceros bicornis, green imperial pigeon Ducula aenea, silver-breasted broadbill Serilophus lunatus, the rare blackbreasted parrotbill Paradoxornis flavirostris (VU), slenderbilled  and striated babblers Turdoides longirostris (VU), and T.earlii, chestnut-capped and marsh babblers Timalia pileatea and Pellorneum palustre (VU), and Jerdon's bushchat Saxicola jerdoni. Further details of waterfowl are given in Scott (1989). The reptilian fauna includes water monitor Varanus salvator, Indian python Python molurus, common cobra Naja naja and king cobra N. hannah (Spillett, 1966). The bheels are excellent fish nurseries for Brahmaputra fish.

Cultural Heritage- Mikir tribesmen live in the neighbouring hills.