WILDLIFE TOURISM IN INDIA

Wildlife tourism is among growing segments of tourism sector not only in India but all over the world . With the spread of modern civilisation , jungles are disappearing fast and wild life species are endangered . Great efforts are being made towards the conservation of faunal and floral heritage . The main activities in wildlife tourism includes wildlife and sanctuaries viewing , photography and bird watching .

Major Sanctuaries in India :-

Sanctuaries are areas preserved for wildlife where they are allowed to roam free , hunt for game and natural habitat preserved so that they can evolve properly . The most important sanctuaries located in India are as under :

• Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary :

This sanctuary is situated in Jalpaiguri of West Bengal , below the eastern foothills of the Himalayas , is of 116 Sq.Kms. and is mostly rain forest , tall and deciduous . Interspread with dense high grass and crisscrossed with water course . The Torsa , Malangi and other mountain rivers pour through it on their way from the Himalayas to the plains . These changes provide ideal habitant for rhino and wild buffalo ; unfortunately the latter is no longer present .

• Manas Wildlife Sanctuary :

The Manas sanctuary is situated at Barpeta of Assam , Manas is noted for its wild buffalo . Other fauna include the rare clouded leopard , black bear , Sambar , Swamp deer , barking deer , hog deer , capped and golden langur , slow loris , common and clawless otter , wild boar , pigmy hog and gharial in the rivers . Birds in Manas include the great and little cormorant , shag , spotbilled pelican , egret , night heron , paddy bird , white and black ibis , common shelduck , goosander , etc.

• Vedanthangal Sanctuary :

This is situated 82 kms south of Chennai and 48 kms inland from the Bay of Bengal . It is the oldest known bird sanctuary in India . The sanctuary is built around a large water tank which begins to fill around August with the Northwest monsoon . By September , it is full and birds begins to come here after after that. They keep arriving upto January , Birds include nesting birds like the cormorant shag , darter , egret , heron , paddy bird , stork , spoon bill and white ibis .

• Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary :

This sanctuary is situated at Tirunelveli of Tamil Nadu . This is very popular with botanists and orinthalogists as it has a great variety of faunal and bird life . Among the animals that roam here are tiger , lion tailed , macaque , jackal and wild dogs while while the reptile population include cobra , python and several other snakes .

• Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary :

The Periyar river , rising in the Shivagiri hills of the Cardamon Hills a segment of the Western Ghats was dammed in 1987 , and most of its waters which flowed west into the Arabic Sea were turned to flow into the Vaigai river flowing east to the Bay of Bengal , through a subterranean tunnel (5.940 ft) long and used to irrigate large areas which suffered permanently from drought . Periyar offers the finest opportunities to watch the photography the Indian Elephant . In a stay of two or three days most of its daily activities can be seen .

Major National Parks in India :-

National parks are sanctuaries with a greater emphasis on the preservation of the flora and fauna and not a twig should be disturbed is emphasised .

Important National Parks in India are :

• Keoldeo Ghana National Park :

Keoldeo National Park in Bharatpur is located within the Indus-Ganges Monsoon Forest Biogeographical Province . It extends over an area of 2,783 hectares (6,880 acres) . It was declared a national park in 1982 . Earlier to this , in 1900 , it was a duck hunting reserve of the Maharajas of Bharatpur , then became a bird sanctuary in 1956 , with the Maharajas exercising shooting rights till 1972 and was recorded as a Ramsar Wetland Site in 1981 . It was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985 under category (x) , as a natural property .

• Sundarbans National Park (West Bengal) :

The Sundarbans National Park , the largest estuarine mangrove forest in the world is a National Park , Tiger Reserve , UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Biosp Reserve located in the Sundarbans Ganges river delta bordering the Bay of Bengal , in West Bengal . It is also on the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves . The Sundarbans as a whole encompasses 10,000 kms of land and water . It is integral to the worlds largest delta of 80,000 sq. km formed from sediments deposited by the three great rivers , the Ganges , the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, which confluences in the Bengal Basin .

• Nandadevi National Park :

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks are nestled high in West Himalayas . Valley of flowers National Park is renowned for its meadows of endamic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty . It is located in the Garhwal Himalaya of Chamoli District of Uttaranchal . This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals , including the Asiatic black bear , snow leopard , brown bear and blue sheep . It was inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 with extension in 2005 . Together , they comprise the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve , which on the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2004 .

• Kaziranga National Park :

Located in the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra River in the far North-East of India , Assam , Kaziranga National Park covers an area of approximately430-sq-kms with its swamps and tall thickets of elephant grass making it the ideal habitant for the Indian One-Horn Rhino . Due to limitless poaching of this prehistoric survivor , the Kaziranga National Park was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1940 . Major Wildlife attractions of Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary are Elephants , Indian Bison , Swamp Deer or Barasingha , Hog Deer , Sloth Bears , Tigers , Leopard Cats , etc.

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