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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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