MANAS NATIONAL PARK

The sanctuary covers an area of 950 square kilometers and is bordered by the Manas River to the north by the forests of Bhutan. The main entrance to the park is at Jioty Gaon, a village on the banks of the Bekti River. As is often the case in India, this park was originally a hunting reserve for the royal family of Cooch Behar and the raja of Gauripur. The park is home to 21 species listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. These include the tiger, rhino, swamp deer, but even rarer golden entelle, clouded leopard, Assam rabbit and Temminck's cat. The park was registered in Project Tiger in 1973, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and became a Biosphere Reserve in 1989. Curiously, Manas has only been a National Park since 1990. Declared "endangered" from 1992 to 2011, due to the fragility of its environment and an intense activity of smugglers. Now, order has been restored and it is safe to go to Manas. Due to its critical environmental state, rhinos and elephants were reintroduced into the park in 2011, in order to safeguard the presence of these species. 543 varieties of plants have been recorded in the heart of the park, 55 types of mammals, 380 species of birds, 50 different kinds of reptiles and 3 amphibians. This great diversity makes Manas a must-see park if you are a nature lover.