Manas National Park

Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a world fame national park, UNESCO declared World Heritage Site, a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and most importantly a Biosphere Reserve located in Indian state of Assam. Snuggled in the Himalayan foothills, it is adjacent to the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. Situated far away in the land of North East is a heaven when you will find the most exotic wildlife species living in harmony. Manas National is the only tiger reserve in Assam widely known for its rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog. Manas is also famous for its sound population of the wild water buffalo.

Actually Manas is located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, the park is flanked by the giant Manas River bifurcating it from Royal Manas National Park. Manas is a fabulous area with amalgamation of grassland and forest. Manas is only reserved and protected area in country which has been crowned with five different forest& wildlife conservation status both nationally and internationally. These awards belong to World Heritage Site, Tiger Reserve, Biosphere Reserve, National Park and Elephant Reserve. Manas is popular for striking scenery with different type of habitat that favors diverse fauna, making it the richest amongst the Indian wildlife fraternity.

History of Manas National Park
Before 1928, Manas National Park was a reserve forest and called Manas R.F. and North Kamrup R.F. The park’s 360 sq. km area was designated as a wildlife sanctuary on 1st October, 1928. Between 1951 and 1955, the forest area was increased to 391 km² and Manas Biosphere Reserve was established in the year 1973. In 1985, the park was declared as the Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Later in the year 1990, Kahitama R.F. and the Panbari R.F. were also included to create Manas National Park. But in 1992, UNESCO confirmed the park as 'World Heritage Site in Danger' because of poaching and terrorist activities. In 2008, the area of the national park was increased to 950 km². In 2011, Manas National Park was removed from UNESCO's list of 'World Heritage Site in Danger' due to its effective conservation efforts.