Corbett National Park
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).