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CORBETT NATIONAL PARK
.jpg) India's first and finest park spread over 520 sq. kms. along the
banks of the Ramganga river, just 300 kms. northeast of Delhi in
the foothills of the Himalayas is the Corbett National Park.
Established initially as Hailey National Park on August 8, 1936,
in honour of Sir Malcolm Hailey, then governor of the United
Provinces, the name was changed to Ramganga National Park in 1952.
In 1957, it was finally named as Corbett National Park in honour
and memory of the late Jim Corbett, the legendary hunter,
naturalist-turned-author and photographer who had helped in
setting up the park and demarcating its boundaries.
With elevations in the Park
ranging from 400m to 1210m there is a rich
diversity in habitat. Animals of the Himalayas and those of
peninsular India can both be s.jpg) een here and over 50 mammal and 25
Reptile species have been recorded at Corbett. Among the predators
are the tiger, leopard, diverse species of lesser cats and the dhole - the wild dog. There are antelopes (nilgai and ghoral)
varieties of deer (hog deer, sambhar, chital or spotted deer and
barking deer), the primates (rhesus and langur) and other animals
like jackals, foxes, civets, wild boar, sloth bear, black bear and
a range of reptiles including the cobra, python and two species of
crocodile.
The rare fish eating, long snouted gharial and the more robust
mugger can be seen basking along the sand banks and pools of the
Ramganga. The river which is also noted for its sporting fish, the
mighty mahaseer and the malee is popular with anglers.
Corbett is the home of
580 species of birds including water fowl, 17 types of woodpecker,
raptors like the Pallas fishing eagle, harriers and kites,
peafowl, kalij pheasant, the rare chir pheasant, red jungle fowl,
minivets, shrikes, cuckoos, drongos and barbets. A
fine reservoir on the river formed with the building of a dam at
Kalagarh now attracts diverse species of water birds - both local
and migratory. With its avian variety Corbett is a marvelous
location for bird watchers also.
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