Formerly known as North Kamrup, Manas, in
Assam, was declared a sanctuary in 1928. In 1985 it was accorded the
status of World Heritage Site. The park straddles two rivers, the Manas
and its tributary the Hakua, along the Assam-Bhutan border. The
protected area extends into the Bhutan foothills. Manas houses 19 of
India's most endangered animal populations, home to the rare golden
langur and a sizeable tiger population. Its wetlands are essential
for the survival of the fast-vanishing hispid hare and pygmy hog. The
fauna to be found here include the rhino, wild buffalos, elephants,
gaur, swamp deer, capped langur and clouded leopard. The
park, the eastern range of the chital and habitat of the
sambar deer, also boasts a rich and diverse avian population. The
main highlight is the giant hornbill, two subspecies of which, the pied
and grey varieties, are to be found here.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: The park lies in the
districts of Barpeta and Kokrajhar, 41km north of Barpeta Road township.
It spans the Manas River and is bounded to the north by the
international border with Bhutan, to the south by the populated regions
of North Kamrup and to the east and west by forest reserves. The park,
which includes part of Manas Reserve Forest and all of North Kamrup
Reserve Forest, constitutes the core of Manas Tiger Reserve which lies
in the forest divisions of Kachugaon, Haltugaon, Western Assam Wildlife
and North Kamrup. 26°37'-26°50'N, 90°45'-91°15'E
DATE AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT: Manas (previously also known
as North Kamrup) was declared a sanctuary on 1 October 1928, parts of it
having been notified as reserved forests in 1907 and 1927. Encroachment
pressures from local people led the government to set aside 809ha from
the sanctuary for a seed farm in 1971. It was established as the core of
the Manas Tiger Reserve with effect from April 1973. Inscribed on the
World Heritage List in 1985 as Manas Sanctuary. The sanctuary was
upgraded to national park status on 7 September 1990, and enlarged from
39,100ha to 50,000ha by the inclusion of the former Panbari, Koklabari
and Kahitama Forest Reserves in the eastern sector (Oliver, 1993: K. Rao
pers. comm., 1995). Placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in
1992 due to civil unrest and subsequent damage to infrastructure.
AREA: The park comprises 50,000ha of the 283,712ha Manas Tiger
Reserve. Contiguous with Royal Manas National Park (65,800ha), Bhutan.
LAND TENURE: State
ALTITUDE: Ranges from 40m to 150m (Deb Roy, n.d.).
PHYSICAL FEATURES: Lying in the foothills of the Outer Himalaya,
the area is low-lying and flat. The Manas River flows through the
western portion of the park, where it splits into three separate rivers,
and joins the Brahmaputra some 64km further south. These and other
rivers running through the tiger reserve carry an enormous amount of
silt and rock debris from the foothills, resulting from the heavy
rainfall, fragile nature of the rock and steepgradients of the
catchments. This leads to the formation of alluvial terraces, comprising
deep layers of deposited rock and detritus overlain with sand and soil
of varying depth, shifting river channels and swamps. The northern
portion is represented by the 'Bhabar' formation, which is very porous
due to the deep deposits of coarse detritus overlain by sandy loam and
then a thin layer of humus. The 'Terai' tract in the south consists of
fine alluvial deposits with underlying pans. Here, the water table lies
very near to the surface. The area of the Boki basin, in the west of the
park, is sometimes inundated during the monsoon but never for very long
due to the sloping relief. Mortality to wildlife is negligible as
animals are able to stake refuge on islands of high ground (Anon., 1974;
Deb Roy, n.d.).
CLIMATE: The climate is warm and humid (up to 76 per cent
relative humidity) with most rain falling during the monsoon season
(May-September). The mean maximum summer temperature is 37°C and the
mean minimum winter temperature is 11°C. Mean annual rainfall ranges
from 3332mm at Batabari to 4489mm at Kachugaon, based on 11 and 17 years
of records, respectively (Anon., 1974; Deb Roy, n.d.).
VEGETATION The three main types of vegetation are:- (a) Tropical
semi-evergreen forests in the northern part of park, with common trees
including Aphanamixis polystachya, Anthocephalus chinensis, Syzygium
cumini, S. formosum, S. oblatum, Bauhinia purpurea, Mallotus
philippensis, Cinnamomum tamala, Actinodaphne obvata; (b) tropical moist
and dry deciduous forests (the most common type), characterised by trees
such as Bombax ceiba, Sterculia villosa, Dillenia indica, D. pentagyna,
Careya arborea, Lagerstroemia parviflora, L. speciosa, Terminalia
bellirica, T. chebula, Trewia polycrapa, Gmelina arborea, Oroxylum
indicum, Bridelia spp.; and (c) extensive alluvial grasslands in the
western part of the park, comprising many different grass species
together with a variety of tree and shrub species (e.g. Dillenia
pentagyna, Phyllanthus emblica, Bombax ceiba, and species of
Clerodendrum, Leea, Grewia, Premna and Mussaenda). The grasslands can be
subdivided into wet alluvial and highland savanna types. There is also a
considerable variety of aquatic flora along river banks and in the
numerous pools (Jain and Sastry, 1983). Dry deciduous forests represent
early stages in succession and are replaced by moist deciduous forests
away from water courses, which, in turn, are succeeded by tropical
semi-evergreen climax forest. Grasslands cover about 50 per cent of the
park. Some 393 species of dicotyledons, including 197 trees, and 98
species of monocotyledons have been identified (Jain and Hajra, 1975; S.
Deb. Roy, pers. comm.).
FAUNA: A total of 55 mammals, 36 reptiles and three amphibians
have been recorded (Project Tiger, n.d.). Manas harbours by far the
greatest number (21) of India's Schedule I mammals of any protected area
in the country. Many are typical of South-east Asian rain forest and
have their westernmost distribution here. Mammals include golden langur
Presbytis geei (R), a recently discovered endemic restricted to Manas
and adjoining areas in Bhutan and numbering approximately 305 in 1980,
capped langur P. pileata, Hoolock gibbon Hylobates hoolock, clouded
leopard Neofelis nebulosa (V), tiger Panthera tigris (E) the second
largest population in India numbering 80 in 1995, although this figure
is disputed (Milne, 1997), leopard P. pardus, golden cat Felis temmincki
(I), fishing cat F. viverrinus (K), leopard cat F. bengalensis, marbled
cat F. marmorata (K), binturong Arctictis binturong, sloth bear Melursus
ursinus (I), wild dog Cuon alpinus (V), Ganges dolphin Platanista
gangetica, Indian elephant Elephas maximus (E), with up to 2,000 in the
tiger reserve and more than 1,000 moving freely between Indian and
Bhutan Manas reserves, Indian rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis (E), pygmy
hog Sus salvanius (E), swamp deerC. duvauceli (V), with approximately
450 individuals (Deb Roy, 1992), sambar Cervus unicolor, hog deer C.
porcinus, Indian muntjac Muntiacus muntjak, water buffalo Bubalus arnee
(V), probably representing the only pure strain of this species in
India, gaur Bos gaurus (V), giant squirrel Ratufa indica, hispid hare
Caprolagus hispidus (E) and Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata. Over
450 species of birds have been recorded (Deb Roy, 1990) including the
threatened Bengal florican Houbaropsis bengalensis (E), great pied
hornbill Buceros bicornis, wreathed hornbill Rhyticeros undulatus and
other hornbills. The Bengal florican population was estimated at 34 in
1984 for the national park (Ali et al., 1985) and 80 individuals with 24
male territories were identified within the park during 1988 (Narayan et
al., 1989). Pied harrier Circus melanoleucos nested during 1988 and
1989, the first confirmed record for India (Narayan et al., 1989).
Uncommon waterfowl species include spot-billed pelican Pelecanus
philippinensis (I), lesser adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus (V) and
greater adjutant L. dubius (E) (Scott, 1989). Reptiles include a variety
of snakes (e.g. vine snake Ahaetulla nasutas, flying snake Chrysopelea
ornata, Assam trinket snake Elaphe frenata and banded krait Bangarus
fasciatus), gharial Gavialis gangeticus (E) (possibly introduced from
neighbouring Bhutan or as a result of a captive breeding programme), and
monitor lizard Varanus sp. Assam roofed turtle Kachuga sylhetensis (K)
has recently been recorded (Sarma, 1988).
CULTURAL HERITAGE: Manas takes its name after the Goddess Manasa.
The surrounding area is inhabited predominantly by tribal people (Deb
Roy, n.d.).
VISITORS AND VISITOR FACILITIES: A forest bungalow at Mothanguri,
within the park, provides dormitory style accommodation for 48 persons.
A number of rest houses and camp sites are also available. The Tourist
Department of Assam conducts tours, including boat trips down the river
and elephant rides. Foreign visitors need a special permit to enter the
park. Some 32,860 people visited the area in 1983-1984. Due to the Bodo
agitation in Assam, the park was closed in 1989 (K. Rao pers. comm.,
1995), but in 1996 an estimated 8,000 tourists visited the park (IUCN,
1997).
