Manas National Park

Manas National Park, national park in western Assam state, northeastern India. It is situated at the foot of the Himalayas on the eastern bank of the Manas River, 92 miles (153 km) west of Guwahati. Established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1928, Manas was designated a national park in 1990. It has an area of some 193 square miles (500 square km) and lies in a dense, mixed semievergreen, evergreen, and wet-deciduous forest region. The southern part of the preserve is grassland.

A tiger reserve covering an area of 1,095 square miles (2,837 square km) with the national park as its core zone was established in 1973. The entire area of the reserve was declared a biosphere reserve in 1989. Manas received its UNESCO World Heritage site status in 1985, became a part of the Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve in 2003 (called Sikhna Jwhwlao National Park as of February 2025), and has been designated an Important Bird Area because of its rich avian fauna.

Flora and fauna

Close to 90 species of trees, nearly 50 shrubs, and more than 170 herbs, along with numerous climbers, orchids, and undershrubs, characterize the vegetation of the park. Major species include Bombax ceiba, Shorea robusta, Dillenia pentagyna, Careya arborea, Artocarpus chaplasha, Lagerstroemia parviflora, Imperata cylindrica, Arundo donax, and Saccharum arundinaceum.

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A 2006 report found Manas National Park to be home to about 60 species of mammals, including 22 of India’s most threatened mammals, 476 species of birds, 42 species of reptiles, and 7 species of amphibians. Among these are 26 globally threatened species. Notable wildlife of the park includes Indian rhinoceroses, elephants, gaur, various deer, tigers, clouded leopards, black bears, and wild pigs. The park is inhabited by several endemic species such as golden langurs, hispid hares, and pygmy hogs and critically endangered species such as the Bengal florican and the Assam roofed turtle. The elusive red panda has been spotted at higher altitudes of the park.

From conflict to conservation

For over a decade, Manas National Park and its surrounding areas were affected by armed conflict. Beginning in the mid- to late 1980s, armed insurgency associated with the demand for greater political autonomy of the Bodo people—the largest minority group in Assam—affected the park and its nearby areas. It disrupted park management and conservation activities and contributed to increased poaching, illegal logging, and encroachment. Nearly half of the park’s tiger population, along with almost all of its rhinoceroses and swamp deer, were lost during the conflict. As a result, UNESCO placed Manas on the World Heritage in Danger list in 1992. The park remained closed to visitors from 1989 to 1996.

The creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council in 2003—an autonomous administrative body formed to provide the Bodo people with greater self-governance—helped pave the way for peace and the return of conservation activities. The agreement also encouraged tourism, with the involvement of local communities. A key conservation initiative involved engaging former poachers in patrolling and protecting the park’s wildlife.

With better patrolling, improved infrastructure, and successful wildlife restoration programs, Manas gradually recovered and was removed from UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger list in 2011. Since 2006 the park’s rhinoceros population has been restored through translocations from Kaziranga National Park, located about 200 miles (322 km) away, and other nearby wildlife preserves. Its small swamp deer population has also been strengthened through planned reintroductions, beginning in 2014. In addition, the endangered pygmy hog—the world’s smallest and rarest wild pig—has shown steady population growth since 2020 through planned releases and successful breeding in the wild.

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