Bringing Back Manas

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Bringing Back Manas Preface Manas National Park had all the epithets that a protected area can dream of. It was a National Park, a tiger reserve and a World Heritage Site as declared by UNESCO. However, it was almost completely stripped of its faunal and floral heritage during a period of civil unrest in the region in the late 80s and early 90s. The park lost almost all its 100 or so rhinos, most of its swamp deer and wild buffaloes and a large number of elephants and tigers along with myriad other creatures during the peak of the poaching period. I was one of the few biologists who visited the park just after the dark years and was struck by its resilience and stark beauty despite the years of damage done to it. To be therefore part of trying to bring back Manas is a dream come true. The dream had two parts. One was to work with the political establishment of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) to devise a management plan for Manas, for the expansion and resurrection of what was left. The District Council project funded by the British High Commission sought to do just that. The other was to try and re-stock Manas with some of its lost faunal attributes and the IFAW partnered project has succeeded in bringing back rhinos and elephants into the park. By doing this, the project has shown the willingness of the Bodo community to conserve megafauna of the park, demonstrated the ability of the conservation community in rehabilitating orphaned wildlife back into the wild and started the process of bringing Manas back to its former glory. The crowning glory of the project is the confirmation of the political will to declare Greater Manas. By doing this, the protected area (albeit under two different systems of protection) will virtually double. In this era of degradation of forests and denotification of protected areas, any enhancement of protection is a welcome step. A doubling of a world heritage is nothing but euphoric in nature. This report catalogues over five years of effort by the Wildlife Trust of India in partnership with the Bodoland Territorial Council, the Assam Forest Department, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the British High Commission to achieve some of these aims. The intent to declare Greater Manas is indeed a fitting end to Phase I of the project. Vivek Menon Executive Director 7
The effort to bring back Manas was made possible because of the belief and contribution of a large number of people and organizations. First and foremost, we express our sincere thanks to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) for the necessary support and encouragement to our team. We would like to acknowledge our sincere gratitude to Mr. Hagrama Mohilary, Chief BTC and Mr. Kampa Borgoyari, Deputy Chief BTC for their personal interest and support to rehabilitate the Asian elephant and Greater One-horned rhinoceros in the Manas National Park. We are thankful to the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Government of India, Central Zoo Authority and State Forest Department for allowing us to carry out the conservation activities including the setting up of mobile veterinary service in BTC area. We extend our thanks to Mr. R. P. Katwal (former Addl DGF, MoEF), Dr. R. B. Lal (IGF, MoEF), Mr. Anmol Kumar (DIG Forest, MoEF), Mr. A. N. Prasad (IGF and Director Project Elephant), Dr. Rajesh Gopal (IGF and Director Project Tiger), Mr Pramod Krishnan (AIGF, Wildlife, MoEF), Mr. Dr. B.R. Sharma (Member Secretary CZA), Mr. S. Doley (PCCF, Assam), Mr. M.C. Malakar (Addl. PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam), Mr. B.S. Bonal (CF, HQ Assam) and Dr. Gopal Chetry (Reasearch Officer, Assam) for helping us in this regard. We are grateful to Mr. G.C. Basumatary (Head, Forest & Tourism Department, BTC), Mr. Abhijit Rabha (former Field Director, Manas Tiger Project), Mr. Ritesh Bhattacharjee (former Dy. Director, Manas Tiger Project), Mr. A. Swargiary (Field Director, Manas Tiger Project), Mr. C.R Bhobra (Dy Director, Manas Tiger Project), Mr. R. Boro (DFO, Kachugaon Division), Mr. R. Choudhury (DFO, Haltugaon), Mr. B.N. Patiri (DCF, Chirang), Mrs. Sonali Ghosh (DFO, Social Forestry Division and Wildlife Division, Kokrajhar), Mr. S. Momin (DFO, Mangaldoi Wildlife Division), Mr. H. K. Talukdar (DFO Dhansiri Division), Mr. Mohan Brahma, Mr. L. Ramchiary, Mr. R. Brahma, Mr. R. Brahma, Mr. G. Basumatary, Mr. Amiya Brahma, Mr. Jayanta Deka and other forest officials for their active support and cooperation in the successful implementation of the work. We would also like to acknowledge the support received from Dr. Anwaruddin Choudhury (former Deputy Commissioner, Baksa District) in WTI's conservation and research efforts. We would also like to extend our since thanks to Mr. Bishnu Narzary, Mr. Sanjib Brahma, Mr. Hareswar Acknowledgements Brahma, Mr. Phulung Brahma and Mr. Subhash Brahma of Discovery Club (Kokrajhar) for successful completion of the forest survey in BTC area, Mr Chandra Kanta Basumatary, Mr Mahendra Basumatry and Mr Thwijangsav Narzary of Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society (Lakhwiazar) and ABSU (Lakhwiazar) for their support and assistance in our efforts to rehabilitate Asian elephant and rhino in Manas National Park. Dr. P.C. Bhattacharjee (Trustee, WTI and Professor, Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Assam) is the nucleus of all the conservation efforts in BTC and we are thankful to him for his guidance, help and encouragement in all spheres of work, especially during challenging and difficult moments. Many other people have also contributed significantly in undertaking the conservation efforts in BTC. We express our sincere thanks to Dr. Hillol Jyoti Singha, Mr. N. K. Dey and Mr. Chatrapati Das for their kind help and sharing their information and assisting in undertaking our work. We also express our sincere thanks to Dr. Jihasuo Biswas, Dr. Buddhin Hazarika, Mr. Manna Singh Brahma, Mr. Ashok Bhoral, Mr. Rohen Narzary, Mr. Bimal Narzary, Mr. Ratneshwar Musahary, Mr. Mangal Singh, Mr. Kanak Narzary for their help and active participation in our effort towards reviving Manas. Our thanks also go out to our present and former colleagues from Wildlife Trust of India, Dr. P.S. Easa (former Director), Mr. Sunil Subba Kyarong (Manager), Mr. Aniruddha Mookerjee (Senior Director), Dr. Joydeep Bose (Manager), Mr. John Kunju Kunju (Executive Assistant), Ms Kadambari Mainkar (Programme Officer), Dr. Prabhat Basumatary, Dr. Prasanta Boro, Dr. Anjan Talukdar, our animal keepers based at Doimari Camp in Manas and Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) for their constant support, advice, encouragement and assistance during the entire period of our conservation effort in BTC and preparation of this report. We are also thankful to Mr. Sudhir Mishra (former legal consultant) for assisting in legal training in Manas. We wish to thank British High Commission, New Delhi, US Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Oil India and GAIL (India) Limited for their financial support and their role in bringing us closer to the concept of Greater Manas. 8 Bringing Back Manas
Page 2 and 3: BRINGING BACK MANAS Conserving the
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTS MESSAGES 5 PREFACE 7 ACKNO
Page 6: ROCKYBUL HUSSAIN Phone : (0361) 223
Page 11 and 12: Manas’ wherein lodged within the
Page 13 and 14: parks, wildlife sanctuaries and res
Page 15 and 16: Introduction In 1996, the Supreme C
Page 17 and 18: Within the Bodo area of Assam, a
Page 19 and 20: However, the crucial and most signi
Page 21 and 22: One representative of the Forest or
Page 23 and 24: provisions shall “as far as may b
Page 25 and 26: According to Sec. 2(h) ‘local bod
Page 27 and 28: Local Biodiversity Fund Chapter XI
Page 29 and 30: Further, the Court issued various d
Page 31 and 32: economic decline will be feeding ea
Page 33 and 34: members of the tribal areas of Assa
Page 35 and 36: Profile of Bodoland Territorial Cou
Page 37 and 38: Table 2 District wise population di
Page 39 and 40: Table 4 Social Forestry Divisions F
Page 41 and 42: Terminalia bellerica, Schima wallic
Page 43 and 44: type of forest, grasses like Impera
Page 45 and 46: Introduction Land use and land cove
Page 47 and 48: 46 Bringing Back Manas Fig.23 Break
Page 49 and 50: Table.10 Land use and land cover an
Page 51 and 52: Table.12 Land use land cover and it
Page 53 and 54: Table 14 Land use and land cover an
Page 55 and 56: Table 16 Land use and land cover an
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The land use characteristics and sp
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Tippet’s random number series wer
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Fig. 43 Occupational distribution b
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purchased (1.89%) or collected free
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(d) Grasses, Cane and medicinal pla
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Anecdotal surveys conducted by amat
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Fig. 63 Map showing land use and la
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Table 20 Shrub species diversities
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Table 22 Bird species diversities i
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Bird diversity Mean species richnes
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Fig.66 Map of the study area showin
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Fig 68 Map of study area showing lo
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Fig 70 Map of the study area showin
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The other ungulate of conservation
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It does appear that exotic weed suc
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Bengal. This area, with the excepti
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88 Bringing Back Manas Fig.82 Map o
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Introduction Forest resources play
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people do not own any forest area.
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Fig. 95 People's perception on init
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was responsible for conflict in all
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Fig.113 District wise variation on
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department. However, 14.29% of peop
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While the Greater Manas concept was
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twin paddocks were deemed essential
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Fig. 127 Blood collection after rad
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With the Chief Wildlife Warden of A
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crate. A long MS pipe, hooked on to
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On the day of relocation, on the 23
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the release area, a thorough diseas
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A daily record of the progress of a
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) Whenever visual contact was lost,
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The need for training frontline for
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national average on state PAs is 40
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1. Introduction Urbanization and en
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3. Mobile Veterinary support in Low
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encountered was the Burmese rock py
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fall sick. Very often, small health
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Morgan, E.R., Lundervold, M., Medle
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spirit of the Constitution (seventy
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Bringing Back Manas APPENDIX ‘A
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medium of instruction in educationa
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10. Additional development package
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Background and Objective 9.22.1 The
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Act should be reviewed to plug the
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As regards Mizoram, the Commission
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Clarification - term ‘State Gover
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transportation by Railways will be
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pattern obtaining in the State of H
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districts or regions concerned, and
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cases of the nature referred to in
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(2) If any dispute arises as to the
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(b) the Governor may, by public not
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(2) Any direction given by the Gove
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(hereafter referred to as the exist
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education and research, protection
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*Paragraph 10 has been amended in i
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espective districts, shall have pow
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Bringing Back Manas (a) in the head
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Bringing Back Manas Species ANNEXUR
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Bringing Back Manas Plants/ha Speci
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Bringing Back Manas ANNEXURE 7 LIST
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Bringing Back Manas ANNEXURE 10 LIS
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Bringing Back Manas Species Birds/h
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Bringing Back Manas ANNEXURE 27 BIR
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Bringing Back Manas ANNEXURE 33 CUM
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Bringing Back Manas ANNEXURE 34 CUM
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Bringing Back Manas 233
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areas of Assam, Uttar Pradesh and W
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Unlike in the stabilization yard, c
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stopped every hours to thoroughly c
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1. Wildlife rehabilitation India’
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and front-foot circumference, body
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keeper’s shoulder or chest for co
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Considerations for selecting the re
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Bringing Back Manas ANNEXURE 37 Ori
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Session 5: 10.00 PM - 01.00 PM - Pr
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India at the International Whaling
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Bringing Back Manas Wildlife Trust
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