Kanger Ghati National Park

Kanger Ghati National Park is a national park located near the Kholaba River in the district of Bastar, Chhattisgarh , India.

The rare mouse deer makes its home in this national park.

Other animals include: red jungle fowl, rocket-tailed drongo, striped hyena and barking deer.

Several areas of interest in this park land include caves such as the Kailash caves, the Kutamsar caves and the Dandak caves.Kanger Valley National Park, established on 22nd July 1982 and situated 25 km southeast of Jagdalpur, headquarter of Bastar district, on Jagdalpur-Darbha road, is one of such floristically rich protected areas. The park derives its name from the Kanger River, which flows centrally from northwest to southeast direction. It lies between 18°45' to 18°56'30 N latitude and 81°51'30 to 82°10' E longitude and covers an area of 200 km². The park starting from Tirathgarh waterfall to the Kolab River (Orissa state boundary) is nearly 33.5 km long and the average width is about 6 km. The entire area of the Park has been divided into two ranges viz., Kotamsar and Koleng and consists of 77 compartments in full and 13 partial compartments, thus making total 90 compartments and all are reserved forest compartments. Kanger Valley National Park is very rich in wildlife. Ant-hills are abundantly spread.Major animals found in the Park are cheetal, sambhar, wild boar, sloth bear, barking deer, porcupine, mouse deer, civet, rabbits, tiger, leopard, crocodiles, wild dog, hyena, mongoose, wolf, leopard cat, Indian false vampire bat. Darha of Kanger River and its tributaries and Parewa Badi have deep water pool and they are reservoir of varieties of fishes. Kotamsar cave is reported to have fishes that are blind in the sense that their life activity like reproduction is not governed or actuated by solar light. Their blindness is not yet confirmed. Various kinds of snakes are reported in the park like python, cobra, karait, dhaman, flying snake, green snake etc. Among birds crested serpent eagle, woodpecker, owl, red jungle fowl, peacock, kingfisher, parrot are seen in good number. The famous Bastar hill mynas (Gracula religiosa peninsularis) are also seen seasonally.

Eastern half part of the park is richer in wild animals than western half. Eastern part is very hilly and steep and villages at its fringe are very few. Therefore, this part is more or less free with human interference. Adjoining to north-eastern boundary of the park is Machkot range of Bastar Forest Division, which is rich in wildlife. Gaurs (Bos gaurus) in good number of about fifty are found in Kurandi area of this range. Dr. Ajay Kumar Jha has thoroughly surveyed the angiospermic plants of this park and reported 479 species of angiosperms under 324 genera belonging to 91 families. Out of these, 129 species in 84 genera and 17 families belong to Monocot and 350 species in 240 genera and 74 families belong to Dicot.

ee also

* Caves of India

External links

* [http://www.cave-biology.org Biospeleology in India]