Namdapha National Park is a 1,985 km2 (766 sq mi) large protected area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India. With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400 faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas. The national park harbours the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests in the world at 27°N latitude. It also harbours extensive dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests ecoregion. It is the fourth largest national park in India.

History

• Namdapha was originally declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1972, then a National Park in 1983 and became a Tiger Reserve under the Project Tiger scheme in the same year.
• Its name was combination of two Singpho words "nam" means forest and "dapha" means keeping. When Singpho people were clearing the forest a man said that the jungle was very beautiful and it should not be cut down. So in this way it gets its name.

Geography and vegetation

• The national park is located in Changlang district of the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, near the international border with Myanmar. It spans an area of 1,985 km2 (766 sq mi) including a buffer zone of 177 km2 (68 sq mi) and a core area of 1,808 km2 (698 sq mi).
• It is located between the Dapha bum range of the Mishmi Hills and the Patkai range with a wide elevation range between 200 and 4,571 m (656 and 14,997 ft). It is crossed from east to west by the Noa Dihing River that originates at the Chaukan Pass, located on the Indo-Myanmar border. The land cover changes with increasing elevation from tropical evergreen forest to temperate broadleaf and mixed forest.
• Secondary forests cover 345.47 km2 (133.39 sq mi); seasonal snow occurs at above 2,700 m (8,900 ft) between December and March. Additionally, the park has extensive bamboo forests. The area falls under both the Palearctic and Indo Malayan biogeographic areas resulting in a diverse species assemblage.

Dominant flora

• Many floral species are found in the park. Many plants found in Namdapha are rare, endangered or endemic species. Species of Amentotaxus, Cephalotaxus and Larix being endemic to this region. Some species, such as Pinus merkusii (Sumatran pine) and Abies delavayi (Delavay’s Fir) are found nowhere else in India.
• The Pinus merkusi and Abies delavavi are not found elsewhere in India. One of the rarest and endangered orchids, the Blue Vanda found here. The most famous local medicinal plant Mishimi Teeta (Copti teeta), which is used by the local tribal for all kinds of diseases is available here but its export has been banned.
• 73 species of lichens, 59 species of Bryophytes, 112 species of Heridophytes, 5 species of Gymnosperons and around 801 species of Angiosperms

Fauna
Mammals

• Because of the elevation range from 300 to 4,500 m (980 to 14,760 ft) and vegetation zones from evergreen, moist deciduous to temperate broadleaved and coniferous forest types to alpine vegetation, the park is home to a great diversity of mammal species. Four big cat species occur in the park: snow leopard, clouded leopard, leopard and tiger.
• The Brahmaputra River was thought to act as a barrier between Bengal and Indochinese tiger populations. The Indian leopard is thought to range to the west of the river, and Indochinese leopard east of the river.
• Other predators present in the protected area are dhole, Indian wolf and Asiatic black bear. Smaller carnivores include red panda, red fox, yellow-throated marten, Eurasian otter, Oriental small-clawed otter, spotted linsang, binturong, Asian palm civet, small Indian civet, large Indian civet, masked palm civet, marbled cat, fishing cat, Asian golden cat, and two mongoose species. Large herbivores are represented by Indian elephant, wild boar, musk deer, Indian muntjac, hog deer, sambar, gaur, goral, mainland serow, takin and bharal. Non-human primates present include stump-tailed macaque, slow loris, hoolock gibbon, capped langur, Assamese macaque and rhesus macaque.

Birds

• Among the earlier papers on the birds of Namdapha was published in 1990. The park has about 425 bird species with many more to be recorded from work in the higher areas. There are five species of hornbills recorded from the area. Several species of rare wren-babblers have been recorded in Namdapha. Other bird groups include laughing thrushes, parrotbills, fulvettas, shrike babblers and scimitar babblers.
• The snowythroated babbler is a rare species of babbler found only in the Patkai and Mishmi Hills and nearby areas in Northern Myanmar, is found in Namdapha. Other rare, restricted range or globally endangered species include the rufous-necked hornbill, green cochoa, purple cochoa, beautiful nuthatch, Ward's trogon, ruddy kingfisher, blue-eared kingfisher, white-tailed fish eagle, Eurasian hobby, pied falconet, white-winged wood duck, Himalayan wood-owl, rufous-throated hill-partridge, and whitecheeked hill partridge.
• Several leaf warblers and migrants such as amur falcon and several thrushes can be seen here. The first mid-winter waterfowl census in Namdapha was conducted in 1994 when species such as the white-bellied heron, a critically endangered bird was recorded for the first time.

Butterflies and moths

• The region is very rich in Lepidoptera species. Both butterflies and moths are found in equal abundance here, along with a variety of other insects. As per the observations taken during the National Camp organised here in October 2014 by BNHS, a lot of rare species' of butterflies were seen.
• These include the koh-i-noor, naga treebrown, red caliph, cruiser, wizard, fluffy tit, East Himalayan purple emperor.

Ethnography

• There are a few settlements of Lisu tribal people within the park. Most of the Lisus are, however, located beyond the eastern border of the park towards the international border of India with Myanmar. There are also Chakma, Tangsa and Singpho settlements around the park..