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27 Important National Parks & Tiger Reserves- Unique Features-Must Do for Prelims

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1. Balpakhram National Park

  • Garo Hills,Meghalaya
  • Balpakram means ‘land of the eternal wind’ .
  • Listed in UNESCO World Heritage tentative list.
  • Asian golden cat,Marbled cat,Red Panda etc. found here.

2. Bandipur National Park

  • Tiger reserve under Project Tiger, is a national park located in the Indian state of Karnataka-state with the second highest tiger population in India.
  • Along with adjacent Nagarhole National Park it is one of the premier Tiger Reserves in the country.

  • Together with the adjoining Nagarhole National Park , Mudumalai National Park and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary , it is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve totaling making it the largest protected area in southern India and largest habitat of wild elephants in south Asia.

  • Deccan plateau meets Western Ghats here.

3. Bhitarkanika National Park

  • Odisha
  • Ramsar Site- second Ramsar site in Odisha after Chilika Lake.
  • Rivers Brahmani, Baitarani, Dhamra, Pathsala.
  • Second largest mangrove ecosystem in India.
  • Saltwater Crocodiles found here.
  • It used to be the hunting grounds of the erstwhile King of Kanika .

4. Buxa Tiger Reserve

  • West Bengal
  • represents highly endemic Indo-Malayan region.
  • “Terai Eco-System” constitutes a part of this reserve.
  • Rajabhatkhawa Vulture Breeding Centre at Buxa Tiger Reserve.

5. Campbell Bay National Park

  • island of Great Nicobar, the largest of the Nicobar Islands.
  • part of the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve.

6. Clouded Leopard National Park

  • national park in the Sipahi jala Wildlife Sanctuary Tripura, India.

7. Dachigam National Park

  • Jammu and Kashmir
  • located in the Zabarwan Range of the western Himalayas.
  • deep gullies, locally known as Nars.
  • Located high among its interiors is the Marsar lake from which flows the Dagwan river.
  • Hangul/Kashmiri Stag,Musk deer,Himalayan Brown Bear

8. Desert National Park

  • Rajasthan near the towns of Jaisalmer and Barmer. 
  • one of the largest national parks.
  • excellent example of the ecosystem of the Thar Desert.
  • Haven for migratory and resident birds of the desert.
  • The critically endangered Great Indian Bustard is a magnificent bird found here.
  • Fossils of animals and plants of 180 million years old and some fossils of dinosaurs of 6 million years old found here.
  • The Chinkara or Indian Gazelle (Gazella gazella bennetti) is a common antelope.
  • Desert fox, wolf and desert cat.
  • Gadsisar Sagar Tank– located in Jaisalmer.

9. Eravikulam National Park

  • National park located along the Western Ghats in the Idukki district of Kerala.
  • Anamudi, 2,695 meters, the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas is inside this park.
  • Lakkom Water falls
  • Largest surviving population of Nilgiri tahr.

10. Gir National Park

  • Gujarat
  • It is part of the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.
  • The world’s only abode for Asiatic Lion.
  • The 14th Asiatic Lion Census 2015 was conducted in May 2015. In 2015, the population was 523 .The next census was to be released in May 2020,population is expected to have almost doubled.
  • The plan for translocation of Asiatic lions from Gir Natioanl Park in Gujarat to the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh dates back to 1993-94.

11. Great Himalayan National Park

  • Located in Kullu region in the state of Himachal Pradesh. 
  • UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites– under the criteria of “outstanding significance for biodiversity conservation”.
  • The GHNP is at the junction of world’s two major faunal regions: the oriental to the south and palaearctic to the north.
  • The park has a diversity of zones  such as alpine, glacial, temperate, and subtropical forests.
  • Blue sheep, snow leopard, Himalayan brown bear, Himalayan tahr, and muskdeer.

12. Hemis National Park

  • high altitude national park in the eastern Ladakh .
  • Globally famous for its snow leopards, it is believed to have the highest density of them in any protected area in the world.
  • It is the only national park in India that is north of the Himalayas, the largest notified protected area in India (largest National park) and is the second largest contiguous protected area, after the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and surrounding protected areas. 
  • Inside the Palearctic ecozone.
  • The park lies within the Karakoram-West Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe ecoregion, and contains pine forests, alpine shrublands and meadows, and alpine tundra.
  • Argali (Great Tibetan Sheep), Bharal (Blue Sheep), Shapu (Ladakhi Urial),  Tibetan wolf, the Eurasian brown bear (endangered in India), and the red fox– found here.
  • A small population of the Asiatic ibex is also present in Hemis.
  • Hemis is the only refuge in India containing the Shapu.
  • Birds of prey: the golden eagle, lammergeier vulture, and Himalayan griffon vulture.

13. Indravati National Park

  • Chhattisgarh
  • It derives its name from the nearby Indravati River.
  • Tiger Reserve
  • It is home to one of the last populations of rare wild buffalo.

14. Jim Corbett National Park

  • Fist national park of India.
  • Uttarakhand
  • Tiger Reserve
  • Dense moist deciduous forest mainly consists of sal, haldu, peepal, rohini and mango trees.
  • The park encompasses the Patli Dun valley formed by the Ramganga river.
  • Located partly along a valley between the Lesser Himalaya in the north and the Shivaliks in the south.
  • In August 2019, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi appeared in a special episode of Discovery Channel’s show Man vs Wild with the host Bear Grylls.

15. Kanha Tiger Reserve

  • Largest national park of Madhya Pradesh.
  • Royal Bengal tiger, Indian leopards, the sloth bear,  barasingha  and Indian wild dog.
  • The forest depicted in the famous novel by Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book is based on jungles including this reserve.
  • It is also the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot, Bhoorsingh the Barasingha (Swamp Deer).
  • Ancestral home of Baiga and Gond tribes.
  • An exciting conservation effort in this national park is the reintroduction of barasingha. 

16. Kaziranga National Park

  • Assam
  • World Heritage Site
  • hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses.
  • Rhino population in Kaziranga National Park is 2,413.
  • Tiger Reserve
  • Had hightest tiger density in the world- Now the highest density is in Orang National Park,Assam.
  • Recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for conservation of avifaunal species.
  • Criss-crossed by four major rivers- Brahmaputra, Diphlu, Mora Diphlu and Mora Dhansiri.
  • The park is located in the Indomalayan realm.

17. Keibul Lamjao National Park

  • Manipur
  • The only floating park in the world, located in North East India, and an integral part of Loktak Lake.
  • The national park is characterized by many floating decomposed plant materials locally called Phumdis.
  • Home to endangered Manipur Eld’s deer or brow-antlered deer (Cervus eldi eldi), or Sangai also called the Dancing deer, listed as an endangered species by IUCN,
  • Loktak Lake- Ramsar Site.

18. Keoladeo National Park

  • formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird  Sanctuary  in Bharatpur , Rajasthan.
  • Famous avifauna sanctuary that hosts thousands of birds, especially during the winter season.
  • World Heritage Site.
  • Man-made and man-managed wetland.
  • It is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps and wetlands. 
  • The rare Siberian cranes used to winter in this park but this central population is now extinct.
  • Ramsar Site.

19. Marine National Park,Gulf of Kutch

  • Situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch in the Devbhumi Dwarka district of Gujarat state.
  • There are 42 islands on the Jamnagar coast in the Marine National Park, most of them surrounded by coral reefs. 
  • The best known island is Pirotan.
  • Sea anemones,Molluscs,Octopus which changes color,starfish, sea cucumbers and sea urchins,Sea horse,Whale Sharks, Endangered sea turtles such as green sea turtles, olive  ridleys and  leatherbacks ,Dugongs,Humpback dolphins– found here.
  • Large scale Greater Flamingo colony.
  • Corals.

20. Namdapha National Park

  • Arunachal Pradesh
  • The national park harbours the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests in the world.
  • It also harbours extensive dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests ecoregion.
  • Tiger Reserve
  • It is located between the Dapha bum range of the Mishmi Hills and the Patkai range.
  • Noa Dihing River
  • The land cover changes with increasing elevation from tropical evergreen forest to temperate broadleaf and mixed forest.
  • The area falls under both the Palearctic and Indo Malayan biogeographic areas.
  • The Namdapha flying squirrel  is endemic to the park and critically endangered.
  • Four pantherine species occur in the park: leopard , snow leopard, tiger  and clouded leopard.
  • The region is very rich in Lepidoptera species (butterlies,moths).

21. Neora Valley National Park

  • Kalimpong district, West Bengal
  • It is the land of the elegant red panda.
  • It borders Sikkim and Bhutan.
  • Rhododendrons trees.

22. Orang National Park

  • Located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River in  Assam.
  • Great Indian rhinoceros, pygmy hog, Asian elephant, wild water buffalo and Bengal tiger.
  • Pachnoi river, Belsiri river and Dhansiri River border the park and join the Brahmaputra river. 

23. Pench National Park

  • Madhya Pradesh
  • Tiger Reserve
  • Derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the park from north to south.
  • The area of the present Pench Tiger Reserve has been described in Ain-i-Akbari, and is the setting of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

24. Periyar National Park

  • Kerala
  • Elephant and Tiger Reserve
  • 2 rivers- Periyar and Pamba
  • The park is located high in the Cardamom Hills and Pandalam Hills of the south Western Ghats.
  • The sanctuary surrounds Periyar Lake, which was formed when the Mullaperiyar Dam was erected in 1895. 

25. Ranthambore National Park

  • Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan
  • Known for Bengal Tigers
  • Deciduous Forests
  • Ranthambore National Park lies at the edge of a plateau and is bounded to the north by the Banas River and to the south by the Chambal River.
  • It is named after the historic Ranthambore fortress, which lies within the park.
  • Ecoregion: Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests.

26. Sariska Toger Reserve

  • Rajasthan
  • Scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills.
  • It is a part of the Aravalli Range and the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests’ ecoregion.
  • It is rich in mineral resources, such as copper.
  • Marble mining continues to threaten the environment.

27. Silent Valley National Park

  • Located in Nilgiri Hills,Kerala.
  • The Silent Valley region is locally known as “Sairandhrivanam“.
  • Home to the largest population of lion-tailed macaques, an endangered species of primate.
  • A hydroelectric project that threatened the park’s biodiversity stimulated an environmentalist social movement in the 1970s, known as the Save Silent Valley movement.
  • The Kunthipuzha River drains the entire 15 km length of the park from north to south into the Bharathapuzha River.
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