Topic: Protected Areas

5. Orang National Park

Why in the news?

• The Assam state government has removed encroachments from 22,000 bighas of land in Orang National Park.
• The area of Orang National Park has now increased manifold and the park has become directly linked with Kaziranga and Bura-Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary, creating an unhindered 180-km-long protected area for animals to thrive .

About Orang National Park:

• It is located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam, India.
• It was established as a sanctuary in 1985 and declared a National Park in April 1999.
• It spreads over an area of 78.80 sq. kms.
• It is also a Tiger Reserve (49th)of the country which was notified in 2016.
• It is also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park (IUCN site) since the two parks have a similar landscape made up of marshes, streams and grasslands and are inhabited by the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros.
• Fauna:
  • The park has a rich fauna, including Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros, pigmy hog, elephants, wild buffalo and tigers.
  • Here 222 species of Birds have so far been recorded, some of which are- Spot Billed Pelican, White Pelican, Greater Adjutant Stork, Lesser Adjutant Stork, Brahminy Duck, Bengal Florican etc.
  • Reptiles including Indian Rock Python, Black Krait, King Cobra, Cobra, Monitor Lizard etc. are found here.

Topic: Biodiversity

6. Brown Vine Snake

Why in the news?

• Rare brown vine snake spotted in Dudhwa National Park.
• It emerged to be a species never documented in the wildlife history of Dudhwa or even the state of UP.

About Brown Vine Snake:

• It is a species of colubrid snake, which is endemic to the Americas.
• It is found from within the Atascosa, Patagonia, and Pajarito mountains of southern Arizona in the United States, through Mexico, to northern South America and Trinidad and Tobago.
• It is usually encountered in trees or shrubs on open, steep, and grassy slopes, but is also associated with wooded canyons, especially those with abundant vegetation. 
• It is an extremely slender snake that reaches up to 1.9 m. in total length (including a long tail). Its color may vary from gray to brown with a yellow underside.
• Its body is laterally compressed. 
• The snout is prominent, its length more than two times the diameter of the eye.
• In Arizona, it is also called "pike-headed tree snake". In Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, it is known as a "horse whip" or "vine snake".
• It is mostly arboreal and diurnal.
• It is quite often mistaken for a vine due to similarity in appearance. 
• When threatened, it sometimes releases foul smelling secretions from its vent.
• It feeds mainly on lizards (mostly anoles), but also eats frogs, small rodents and birds.
• It is a mildly venomous rear-fanged snake, but it is not considered dangerous to humans.
• It is oviparous. Clutch sizes of 3-6 have been published. 

 Dudhwa National Park:

• It is located in the Terai belt of marshy grasslands in northern Uttar Pradesh, India. 
• It was established in 1958 as a wildlife sanctuary for swamp deer. It was designated as a national park in 1977.
• Dudhwa National Park together with Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary comprise the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the Kheri and Lakhimpur districts.
• It has an extreme humid subtropical dry winters (CWa) type of climate. 
• Its area falls within the Upper Gangetic plains and is a vast alluvial plain ranging in altitude from 150 m. in the farthest southeast to 182 m. in the extreme north.
• Fauna:
  • Its major attractions are the tigers and swamp deer.
  • Hispid hare, once extinct, was rediscovered here in 1984.
  • In 1984, Indian rhinoceros was reintroduced here from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • The other animals to be seen here include sambar deer, barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, sloth bear, honey badger, jackal, viverridae, jungle cat, fishing cat and leopard cat.
  • Around half of the world's barasinghas are found here. 
  • The white-rumped vulture and red-headed vulture, both Critically Endangered vulture species, are found here.

Topic: Protected Areas

7. Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary

Why in the news?

• The Karnatake Forest Minister has said the State government will set up an elephant camp in Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and announced an elephant soft release centre in 2,000 hectares of forest to mitigate human-elephant conflict in parts of Shivamogga, Hassan, and Chikkamagaluru districts.

About Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is situated in the midst of the Western Ghats region of Karnataka.
• The reserve is unique as it is nestled within several hill ranges. The habitat has a good population of elephants and is also an Elephant Reserve.
• It boasts of a substantial tiger population and as such the sanctuary was declared the 25th Project Tiger reserve of India in 1998.
• It is drained by the river Bhadra and its tributaries.
• It has dry-deciduous, moist-deciduous, shola, and semi-evergreen patches.
• Teak, Rosewood, Mathi, Honne, Nandi and many medicinal plants are found here.
• Tiger, Leopard, Leopard cat, Dholes, Indian Civet, ungulates like Gaur, Sambar and Barking Deer are commonly seen.