Namdapha National Park

Subject:Environment

Context:

Lepidopterists have discovered two new butterflies Striped Hairstreak and Elusive Prince in Arunachal Pradesh

Concept:

• The Striped Hairstreak (Yamamotozephyruskwangtugenesis) was located in Vijaynagar bordering Myanmar while the Elusive Prince was found in Miao on the periphery of the Namdapha National Park.

Namdapha national park

• Namdapha National Park is the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot and is located in Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is India’s easternmost tiger reserve.  It is located in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh near the international border with Myanmar.
• Among the last great remote wilderness areas of Asia, Namdapha and its adjoining areas, is flanked by the Patkai hills to the south and south-east and by the Himalaya in the north. The area lies close to the Indo-Myanmar-China trijunction.
• The entire area is mountainous and comprises the catchment of the Noa-Dihing River, a tributary of the great Brahmaputra river which flows westwards through the middle of Namdapha
• It is only park in the World to have the four Feline species of big cat namely the Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard and Clouded Leopard and numbers of Lesser cats.
• A number of primate species are seen in the park, such as Assamese macaque, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque and number of the distinctive Hoolock Gibbons, highly endangered and only ‘ape’ species found in India dwells in this impenetrable virgin forest.
• Of the many other important animals are the elephants, black bear, Indian Bison, several species of deers, reptiles and a variety of arboreal animals.
• Among the bird species, most notable are the White winged Wood Ducks, a rare and endangered species, the great Indian hornbills, jungle fowls and pheasants flop their noisy way through the jungle, and which harbours other colourful bird and animal species.