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- - -› Wildlife
Parks in India - - -› Corbett
National Park
Corbett National Park
Corbett
has aptly been described as the land of the Roar, Trumpet and Song. It represents
a scene of remarkable beauty.
Corbett had the proud distinction of being the chosen venue for the inauguration
of Project Tiger in India. The rich bio-diversity of the Reserve is partly attributed
to the variety of habitat found here. Due to the location of the Reserve in
the foothills of the Central Himalayas, both Himalayan and peninsular flora
and fauna is found in the Reserve.
The grasslands, locally known as Chaurs, are limited. The largest grasslamnd
is the Dhikala Chaur. Some of the best grasslands including the famous Buxor
Chaur and the Beri Chaur were submerged in the Ramganga reservoir in 1974. The
areas made available as a result of the relocation of the villages, Dhara, Jhirna
and Kothirau in 1994 are being developed into grasslands through habitat management.
The Ramganga reservoir, which came into being in 1974, stretches over an area
of around 82 sq.km. with one half each in Corbett National Park and Sonanadi
Wildlife Sanctuary respectively. The Ramganga riger is the lifeline of Corbett
Tiger Reserve. Its principal tributaries are the Mandal, Palain and Sonanadi.
Numerous mountainous streams locally called Sots flow into these rivers. The
nallas and ravines are thickly covered with evergreen glades along them, which
provide undisturbed cover and water for tiger. Part of the catchment of the
Kosi river falls within the Reserve though the river is outside the Reserve.
Corbett is very rich in avifauna. Zoological Survey of India has recorded over
585 species of resident and migratory birds here. Corbett falls in the newly
constituted state of Uttaranchal, curved out of former Utter Pradesh State in
2000.
Forest Types
Northern
Moist Deciduous
Moist Shiwalik Sal
Moist Bhabar Dun Sal
Western Gangetic Moist Mixed Deciduous
Alluvial Savannah Woodland
Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous
Dry Shiwalik Sal
Northern Dry Mixed Deciduous
Khair Sissoo
Himalayan Subtropical Pine Forests
Lower shiwalik Chir Pine
General Information :
Best Time to Visit : November- May.
Nearest Town : Ramnagar (51 Km)
How to Get Here :
Air : Pantnagar (110 Km)
Rail : Ramnagar (51 km).
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- - -› About
Himalayas - - -› People
& Tribes of Himalayas
People & Tribes of Himalayas
The
population, settlement, and economic patterns within the Himalayas have been
greatly influenced by the variations in topography and climate, which impose
harsh living conditions and tend to restrict movement and communication. People
living in remote, isolated valleys have generally preserved their cultural identities.
However, improvements in transportation and communication, particularly satellite
television programs from Europe and the United States, are bringing access from
the outside world to remote valleys. These outside influences are affecting
traditional social and cultural structure.
Nearly 40 million people inhabit the Himalayas. Generally, Hindus of Indian
heritage are dominant in the Sub-Himalayas and the Middle Himalayan valleys
from eastern Kashmir to Nepal. To the north Tibetan Buddhists inhabit the Great
Himalayas from Ladakh to northeast India.
In central Nepal, in an area between about 1830 and 2440 m (between about 6000
and 8000 ft), the Indian and Tibetan cultures have intermingled, producing a
combination of Indian and Tibetan traits. The eastern Himalayas in India and
nearby areas of eastern Bhutan are inhabited by animistic people whose culture
is similar to those living in northern Myanmar and Yunnan province in China.
People of western Kashmir are Muslims and have a culture similar to the inhabitants
of Afghanistan and Iran.
The economy of the Himalayas as a whole is poor with low per capita income.
Much of the Himalayas area is characterized by a very low economic growth rate
combined with a high rate of population growth, which contributes to stagnation
in the already low level of per capita gross national product. Most of the population
is dependent on agriculture, primarily subsistence agriculture; modern industries
are lacking.
Mineral resources are limited. The Himalayas has major hydroelectric potential,
but the development of hydroelectric resources requires outside capital investment.
The skilled labor needed to organize and manage development of natural resources
is also limited due to low literacy rates. Most of the Himalayan communities
face malnutrition, a shortage of safe drinking water, and poor health services
and education systems.
Agricultural land is concentrated in the Tarai plain and in the valleys of the
Middle Himalayas. Patches of agricultural land have also been carved out in
the mountainous forested areas. Rice is the principal crop in eastern Tarai
and the well-watered valleys. Corn is also an important rain-fed crop on the
hillsides.
Other cereal crops are wheat, millet, barley, and buckwheat. Sugarcane, tea,
oilseeds, and potatoes are other major crops. Food production in the Himalayas
has not kept up with the population growth.
The
major industries include processing food grains, making vegetable oil, refining
sugar, and brewing beer. Fruit processing is also important. A wide variety
of fruits are grown in each of the major zones of the Himalayas, and making
fruit juices is a major industry in Nepal, Bhutan, and in the Indian Himalayas.
Since 1950 tourism has emerged as a major growth industry in the Himalayas.
Nearly 1 million visitors come to the Himalayas each year for mountain trekking,
wildlife viewing, and pilgrimages to major Hindu and Buddhist sacred places.
The number of foreign visitors has increased in recent years, as organized treks
to the icy summits of the Great Himalayas have become popular. While tourism
is important to the local economy, it has had an adverse impact on regions where
tourist numbers exceed the capacity of recreational areas.
Historically, all transport in the Himalayas has been by porters and pack animals.
Porters and pack animals are still important, but the construction of major
roads and the development of air routes have changed the traditional transportation
pattern.
Major urban centers such as Kathmandu, Simla, and Srinagar, as well as important
tourist destinations, are served by airlines. Railways link Simla and Darjiling,
but in most of the Himalayas there are no railroads. The bulk of goods from
the Himalayas, as well as goods destined for places within the Himalayas, generally
come to Indian railheads, located in the Tarai, by road. The pack animals and
porters transport goods from road heads to the interior and back.
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