Manas National Park 

Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a UNESCO world heritage site, a tiger reserve and an elephant reserve in Assam in the Himalayan Foothills. Its extended part in Bhutan is called Royal Manas National Park. It was declared a sanctuary on October 01, 1928 and was designated a World Heritage site in December 1985. The sanctuary is home to a great variety of wildlife, including tiger, Golden Langur, Wild Buffalo, Hispid Hare, Pigmy Hog, Capped Langur, Indian one-horned Rhinoceros, Elephant, Gaur, Hog Deer, etc.

Manas known for its Project Tigers, Rhinos & Elephants, and is Assam's one of the two Tiger projects. The scenic beauty and rare wealth of wild life combine with this unique world heritage site to offer one of the most enthralling experiences.

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is situated at 52 kms from Barpeta. Elevation of the Wildlife Sanctuary is 70 mt.

The park is divided into three ranges. The western range is based at Panbari, the central at Bansbari near Barpeta Road, and the eastern at Bhuiyapara near Pathsala. The ranges are not well connected; while two major rivers need to be forded in going from the centre to the Panbari, there is a rough trail (the Daimari road) connecting the central to the eastern range. Most visitors come to Bansbari and then spend some time inside the forest at Mathanguri on the Manas River at the Bhutan border.

Centennial Journey of Manas National Park:

• 1905 – Manas proposed Reserve Forest
• 1907 – Manas Reserve Forest
• 1928 – Manas Wildlife Sanctuary covering an area of 360 sq. km.
• 1955 – The Wildlife Sanctuary is extended to 391 sq. km.
• 1977 – It became core zone of Manas Tiger Project
• 1985 – Inscribed to World Heritage site by UNSCO.
• 1989 – Declared as a Biosphere Reserve
• 1990 – Declared as Manas National Park with an area of 519 sq. km.
• 2002 – Care zone of Chirang Ripu Elephant Reserve under project elephant

Wildlife to be seen

The sanctuary has recorded 55 species of mammals, 380 species of birds, 50 of reptiles, and 3 species of amphibians. Out of these wildlife, 21 mammals are India’s Schedule I mammals and 31 of them are threatened.

The fauna of the sanctuary include –

Asian Elephants, Indian Rhinoceros, Gaurs, Asian Water Buffaloes, Barasingha, Indian Tigers, Leopards, Clouded Leopards, Asian Golden Cat, Capped Langurs, Golden Langurs, Assamese Macaques, Slow Loris, Hoolock Gibbons, Smooth-coated Otters, Sloth Bears, Barking Deer, Hog Deer, Black Panther, Sambar Deer, Chital etc.

The Park is well known for its rare and endangered wildlife which is not found anywhere else in the world like –

Assam Roofed Turtle, Hispid Hare, Golden Langur, Pygmy Hog

To Reach

By AIR: Nearest airport is Guwahati at a distance of 176 Kms, which is well connected with the rest of the country by all leading airlines of the country

By Rail: Nearest railhead is at Barpeta Road at distance of 18 kms from the National Park. All long distance trains to and from Bangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Kolkata are available from Barpeta.

By Road: Manas National Park is well connected to the neighboring regions by road. To reach the sanctuary one has to pass through Barpeta Road. Guwahati, Shimlaguri, Rangia, Howli, Nalbari, etc. are well connected to Barpeta Road by road connectivity.