Dibru-Saikhowa-Nationalpark
The Dibru - Saikhowa National Park is a national park in northeastern India. The park is located in the state of Assam and extends on the banks of the Brahmaputra over an area of about 765 square kilometers. It is home to endangered large mammals, such as elephants, water buffaloes and tigers, as well as numerous bird species.
Foundation
The Dibru area was in 1890 recognized as forest reserve, Saikhowa was connected and declared the area in 1986 Dibru - Saikhowa Wildlife Reserve in 1929. In 1997 it was declared a Biosphere Reserve since 1999 Dibru - Saikhowa a national park. The National Park covers an area of 765 square kilometers, of which 340 are designated as core zone.
Description
The National Park is located on the south bank of the Brahmaputra and consists of alluvial plains that are dominated by tropical forests, wetlands and grasslands. A total of 680 plant species are found in the National Park. The numerous water arms form a diverse mosaic of habitats. In the sphere of influence of the National Park live about 30,000 people who come with their numerous herds of cattle and over again in conflict with the conservation of the national park idea. About 10,000 are directly dependent on the natural resources of the reserve.
Fauna
Dibru - Saikhowa is home to 35 mammal species, 502 bird species, 43 reptile species and 104 fish species. In addition, 105 different species of butterflies occur. Among them are many endangered species.
The reserve is home to one of the most important populations of Asian elephants in northeastern India. In 2002, over 300 elephants were counted in the national park. The census in 2008 showed only 160 elephants, but is likely to be too low, probably because many migratory animals were not recorded. The National Park is one of the few protected areas worldwide, occur in the wild water buffalo. The park is home to over 400 of the huge wild cattle. The largest predator of the reserve is the Bengal Tiger. Estimates that are based on the counts of tracks, live about 30 tigers in Dibru - Saikhowa. With Leopard, Clouded Leopard and two other big cats occur. In addition, the sloth belongs to the fauna of the area. A special feature of feral horses occur which probably escaped during World War II and now live wild in the park. In 2008, 48 horses were counted. Other large herbivores are Indian Muntjakhirsche, pig deer, sambar deer and wild boar. Smaller predators are represented by golden jackal, Eurasian otter, small Indian civet, small mongoose, Indian mongoose, jungle cat and leopard cat. Six species of primates inhabit the reserve. These are Hoolock gibbon, Kappenlangur, rhesus macaque, Assam macaque, Northern Pig- and slow loris. Even the Chinese pangolin is one of the park residents.
The abundance of birds is enormous. About 25 % of all bird species occurring in India was detected in the National Park. For several rare species such as Malays Duck, Bart Trappe and Bengalgeier is the National Park one of the last refuges.