Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 2 | Issue 1 | Mar - May 2017 | Page 61

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
The Orang National Park
stronghold of rhinoceros
photo credit: assaminfo
The Orang National Park , located on the north bank
of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur
districts of Assam, India, covers an area of 78.81 square
kilometres (30.43 sq mi).
Established as a sanctuary in 1985 and declared a
national park on 13 April 1999 Orang National Park is
also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park (IUCN
site) since the two parks have a similar toplogy made up
of marshes, streams and grasslands. The park has a rich
flora and fauna, including great Indian one-horned
rhinoceros, pigmy hog, elephants, wild buffalo and
tigers. It is the only stronghold of rhinoceros on the
north bank of the Brahmaputra river
History
The park has a chequered history of habitation. Up
to 1900, it was inhabited by the local tribes. On
account of an epidemic disease, the tribal population
abandoned the area. However, in 1919 the British
declared it as Orang Game Reserve vide notice No.
2276/R dated May 31, 1915. The game reserve came
under the control of the wild life wing of the State
Forest Department to meet the requirements of the
Project Tiger. It was established as a wild life
sanctuary in 1985, vide notification No. FRS
133/85/5 dated September 20, 1985. But in 1992,
the park was renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife
Sanctuary but this action had to be reversed due to public
pressure against the renaming. Finally, the sanctuary was
declared as National Park in 1999 vide notification
No. FRW/28/90/154 April 8, 1999.
Vol 2|Issue 1|Mar - May 2017
Geography
The Orang National Park, encompassing an area of
78.81 square kilometres (30.43 sq mi), lies on the north
bank of the Brahmaputra river, delimited between
26.483°N 92.266°E and 26.666°N 92.45°E within the
districts of Darrang and Sonitpur. Pachnoiriver, Belsiri
river and Dhansiri River border the park and join the
Brahmaputra river. During the monsoon season, the park
becomes a veritable flood plain with the many streams
overlapping each other. These flood plains constitute
twelve wetlands in the park, apart from the 26 manmade
water bodies.
The park is thus formed of alluvial flood plains of the
many rivers and is an integral part of the Indo-Burma
biodiversity hotspot. The total area of the park has been
categorized into: Eastern Himalayan Moist Deciduous
Forest-15.85 square kilometres (6.12 sq mi); Eastern
Seasonal Swamp Forest - 3.28 square kilometres (1.27
sq mi), Eastern Wet Alluvial Grassland- 8.33 square
kilometres (3.22 sq mi), Savannah Grassland- 18.17
square kilometres (7.02 sq mi), Degraded Grassland-
10.36 square kilometres (4.00 sq mi), Water body- 6.13
square kilometres (2.37 sq mi), Moist Sandy area-2.66
square kilometres (1.03 sq mi) and Dry Sandy area -4.02
square kilometres (1.55 sq mi). It has a fairly flat terrain
tending north to south with a gentle slope. The elevation
in the park varies from 45 metres (148 ft) to 70 metres
(230 ft). It is bounded on its south and east by islands
and spill channels of the river. But the flat alluvial land
is seen distinctly as two terraces; the lower terrace is of
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