JIM CORBETT NATIONAL PARK

Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. It is located in Nainital district of Uttarakhand and was named after Jim Corbett who played a key role in its establishment. The park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative.

           The park has sub-Himalayan belt geographical and ecological characteristics. An eco tourism destination, it contains 488 different species of plants and a diverse variety of fauna. The increase in tourist activities, among other problems, continues to present a serious challenge to the park's ecological balance.

         Corbett has been a haunt for tourists and wildlife lovers for a long time. Tourism activity is only allowed in selected areas of Corbett Tiger Reserve so that people get an opportunity to see its splendid landscape and the diverse wildlife. In recent years the number of people coming here has increased dramatically. Presently, every season more than 70,000 visitors come to the park from India and other countries.

        Corbett National Park comprises 520.8 km² (201.1 sq mi) area of hills, riverine belts, marshy depressions, grasslands and a large lake. The elevation ranges from 1,300 to 4,000 ft (400 to 1,220 m). Winter nights are cold but the days are bright and sunny. It rains from July to September.

         Dense moist deciduous forest mainly consists of sal, haldu, peepal, rohini and mango trees. Forest covers almost 73% of the park, 10% of the area consists of grasslands. It houses around 110 tree species, 50 species of mammals, 580 bird species and 25 reptile species.

HISTORY

          Some areas of the park were formerly part of the princely state of Tehri Garhwal.  The forests were cleared to make the area less vulnerable to Rohilla invaders.   The Raja of Tehri formally ceded a part of his princely state to the East India Company in return for their assistance in ousting the Gurkhas from his domain. The Boksas—a tribe from the Terai—settled on the land and began growing crops, but in the early 1860 s they were evicted with the advent of British rule.

        Efforts to save the forests of the region began in the 19th century under Major Ramsay, the British Officer who was in-charge of the area during those times. The first step in the protection of the area began in 1868 when the British forest department established control over the land and prohibited cultivation and the operation of cattle stations.   In 1879 these forests were constituted into a Reserve Forest where restricted felling was permitted.

        Corbett National Park is one of the thirteen protected areas covered by World Wildlife Fund under their Terai Arc Landscape Programme. The programme aims to protect three of the five terrestrial flagship species, the tiger, the Asian elephant and the Great One-horned Rhinoceros, by restoring corridors of forest to link 13 protected areas of Nepal and India to enable wildlife migration.

GEOGRAPHY

        The present area of the Reserve is 1,318.54 square kilometres (509.09 sq mi) including 520 square kilometres (200 sq mi) of core area and 797.72 square kilometres (308.00 sq mi) of buffer area. The core area forms the Jim Corbett National Park while the buffer contains reserve forests (496.54 square kilometres (191.72 sq mi)) as well as the Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary (301.18 square kilometres.

            The reserve, located partly along a valley between the Lesser Himalaya in the north and the Shivaliks in the south, has a sub-Himalayan belt structure.  The upper tertiary rocks are exposed towards the base of the Shiwalik range and hard sandstone units form broad ridges.  Characteristic longitudinal valleys, geographically termed Doons, or Duns can be seen formed along the narrow tectonic zones between lineaments.

ECOTOURISM

      The main focus is protection of wildlife, the reserve management has also encouraged ecotourism.   In 1993, a training course covering natural history, visitor management and park interpretation was introduced to train nature guides.  A second course followed in 1995 which recruited more guides for the same purpose.   This allowed the staff of the reserve, previously preoccupied with guiding the visitors, to carry out management activities uninterrupted.  Additionally, the Indian government has organised workshops on ecotourism in Corbett National Park and Garhwal region to ensure that the local citizens profit from tourism while the park remains protected.

        April–June to be the best season for Indian tourists to visit the park while recommending the winter months (November–January) for foreign tourists.   According to Riley & Riley (2005): "Best chances of seeing a tiger to come late in the dry season- April to mid June-and go out with mahouts and elephants for several days.

ATTRACTIONS

           More than 586 species of resident and migratory birds have been categorized, including the crested serpent eagle, blossom-headed parakeet and the red jungle fowl — ancestor of all domestic fowl. 33 species of reptiles, seven species of amphibians, seven species of fish and 36 species of dragonflies have also been recorded.

            Bengal tigers, although plentiful, are not easily spotted due to the abundance of camouflage in the reserve.  Thick jungle, the Ramganga river, and plentiful prey make this reserve an ideal habitat for tigers who are opportunistic feeders and prey upon a range of animals.  The tigers in the park have been known to kill much larger animals such as buffalo and even elephant for food.   The tigers prey upon the larger animals in rare cases of food shortage.   There have been incidents of tigers attacking domestic animals in times when they are in a shortage of prey.