Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 2 | Issue 1 | Mar - May 2017 | Page 54

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
Flora
Vegetation: The monsoon forests of Manas lie in the
Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests ecoregion.
The combination of Sub-Himalayan Bhabar Terai
formation with riverine succession leading up to the
Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests makes it one of
the richest biodiversity areas in the world.
The main vegetation types are:
• Sub-Himalayan Light Alluvial Semi-Evergreen forests
in the northern parts.
• East Himalayan mixed Moist and Dry Deciduous for
ests (the most common type).
• Low Alluvial Savanna Woodland, and
• Assam Valley Semi-Evergreen Alluvial Grasslands
which cover almost 50% of the park.
Much of the riverine dry deciduous forest is at an
early successional stage. It is replaced by moist
deciduous forest away from water courses, which is
succeeded by semi-evergreen climax forest in the
northern part of the park. A total of 543 plants
species have been recorded from the core zone. Of these,
374 species are dicotyledons (including 89 trees), 139
species monocotyledons and 30 are Pteridophytes and
Gymnosperms.
The park’s common trees include Aphanamixis
polystachya, Anthocephalus chinensis, Syzygium
cumini, Syzygium formosum, Syzygium oblatum,
Bauhinia
purpurea,
Mallotus
philippensis,
Cinnamomum
tamala,
Actinodaphne
obvata,
Bombax ceiba, Sterculia villosa, Dillenia indica,
Dillenia pentagyna, Careya arborea, Lagerstro-
emia parviflora, Lagerstroemia speciosa, Terminalia
bellirica, Terminalia chebula, Trewia polycarpa,
Gmelina arborea, Oroxylum indicum and Bridelia spp.
The grasslands are dominated by Imperata cylindrica,
Saccharum naranga, Phragmites karka, Arundo donax,
Dillenia pentagyna, Phyllanthus emblica, Bombax |
ceiba, and species of Clerodendrum, Leea, Grewia,
Premna and Mussaenda.
leopards, Asian golden cats, dholes, capped langurs,
golden langurs, Assamese macaques, slow loris, hoolock
gibbons, smooth-coated otters, sloth bears, barking deers,
hog deers, black panthers, sambar deers and chitals.
The park is well known for species of rare and
endangered wildlife that are not found anywhere else
in the world like the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare,
golden langur and pygmy hog.
The Manas hosts more than 450 species of birds. It
has the largest population of the endangered Bengal
florican to be found anywhere. Other major bird species
include great hornbills, jungle fowls, bulbuls, brahminy
ducks, kalij pheasants, egrets, pelicans, fishing eagles,
crested serpent-eagles, falcons, scarlet minivets, bee-eaters,
magpie robins, pied hornbills, grey hornbills,
mergansers, harriers, Indian Peafowl, ospreys and herons.
Travel
BY AIR
Nearest Airport is Guwahati (180 kms / 5 hrs drive
approx.). Regular flight operates from Bagdogra,
Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai,
Jaipur, Hyderabad, Goa, Dibrugarh, Jorhat by Indian
Airlines (Air India), Jet Airways, Jetlite, Indigo, & Go
Air. Drukair connects Bangkok & Paro (Bhutan) with
Guwahati twice a week.
BY ROAD
Manas is 176 kms from Guwahati. The National
Highway No. 31 adjoins Barpeta Road (not Barpeta
town) which is 22 kms to Bansbari (Manas entry point
where Musa Jungle Retreat is located overlooking the
Park). The journey from Guwahati by road is 5 hrs.
Approx.
Other road distances to Manas are:
Siliguri to Musa, Manas:
326 Km
Bagdogra to Musa, Manas:
335 Km
Kaziranga to Musa, Manas:
401 Km
BY RAIL
Fauna
Guwahati is gateway to the North East India. All major
The sanctuary has recorded 55 species of mammals, cities of India are well connected to Guwahati including
380 species of birds, 50 of reptiles, and 3 species of Rajdhani Express.
amphibians. Out of these wildlife, 21 mammals are India’s
Schedule I mammals and 31 of them are threatened.
There are several trains stops at Barpeta Road Rail-
way Station, which is 22 kms to Bansbari (MusaJungle
The fauna of the sanctuary include Indian elephants, Retreat, Manas) by road.
Indian rhinoceros, gaurs, Asian water buffaloes,
barasingha, Indian tigers, Indian leopards, clouded
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Vol 2|Issue 1|Mar - May 2017