Uttarakhand Information Centre

Rajaji National Park is an Indian national park that encompasses the Shivaliks, near the foothills of the Himalayas. It is spread over 820 km², and three districts of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal. In 1983, three wildlife sanctuaries in the area namely, Chilla, Motichur and Rajaji sanctuaries were merged into one.

Rajaji National Park has been named after C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), a prominent leader of the Freedom Struggle, the second and lastGovernor-General of independent India and one of the first recipients of India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (in 1954).

Flora & Fauna of Rajaji National Park

Flora

The forest eco – systems of the Rajaji National Park are quite varied and diverse. A general survey of the forests reveals some important types of plant ssociation like Shorea, Mallotus and Adina community,Shorea,Terminalia and Bridelia community, Dalbergia, Acacia community, Syzygium, Phoebe and Drypetes
community etc. The tropical forest ecosystems of the park have many unique
characteristics, which have both scientific as well as practical significance
for development. Based on the physiognomy and floristic composition, the
permanent vegetation of the park may be classified under the Northern Tropical
Moist Deciduous Forests and can be grouped into following six types:

1. Sal forest
2. Mixed forest
3. Riverine forest
4. Scrub forest
5. Grassland
6. Sub-tropical pine forest

Fauna

Inhabiting the dense green jungles that form the park are an impressive array
of creatures – 23 species of mammals – including tigers, leopards, elephants,
deer, jungle cat, wild boar and sloth bear – and 315 species
of birds are found in Rajaji
The most prominent avian species include pea fowl, woodpeckers, pheasants,
kingfishers and barbets, supplemented by a number of migratory species during
the winter months. Besides that, the rivers which flow through the park harbour
fish such as trout and mahseer.

The park has the largest population of Elephants in Uttarakhand. It also has
a good number of Tigers and Leopards. Both elephants and tiger are here, at the
North-Western limit of their distribution in India. Wild animal species found in
Rajaji National Park include:

• Asian Elephant
• Bengal Tiger
• Leopard
• Jungle Cat
• The Goat-like Goral
• Himalayan yellow throated marten
• Indian Hare
• Sloth Bear
• Himalayan Black Bear
• King Cobra
• Jackal
• Barking Deer
• Sambhar
• Wild boar
• Rhesus macaque
• Indian langur
• Indian Porcupine
• Monitor lizard
• Python

The park also houses over four hundred bird species including the Great Pied Hornbill,Himalayan
Pied Kingfisher and the fire
tailed sunbird. This area is the first staging ground after the migratory
birds cross over the Himalayas into the Indian subcontinent.

Access

Rajaji Park, which has several gates, is accessible from Dehradun, Kotdwar and Haridwar: the
Ramgarh Gate and Mohand Gate are within 25 km of Dehradun; the Motichur,
Ranipur and Chilla Gates are about 9 km from Haridwar; Kunao Gate is
6 km from Rishikesh; and Laldhang gate is 25 km from Kotdwar. Saharanpur,
which is conveniently linked by train to other parts of India, is
another attractive point to reach the Mohand area of the Park, in nearly an hour
by road.

External links

• Rajaji National Park Website
• the Official website of Haridwar. might help.