Dachigam National Park is a national park located from Srinagar city in

Srinagar district The Srinagar District is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and ...

in Kashmir on the east side of Dal Lake. It covers an area of about . The name of the park means "ten villages", in memory of the ten villages that were relocated for the park's formation. These ten villages were living in this region before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

at the beginning of the 20th century. The main gate entrance is very close to the New Theed general bus stand, on either side of Darul Uloom Kousaria. The park has been a protected area since 1910, first under the care of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and later under the observation of the concerned government authorities. It was initially created to ensure a supply of clean drinking water for Srinagar. It was upgraded and declared a

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in 1981.

Geography

Dachigam National Park is located in the

Zabarwan Range The Zabarwan Range is a short (20 mi (32 km) long) mountain range, sub-mountain range between Pir Panjal and Himalayas, Great Himalayan Range in the central part of the Kashmir Valley in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union ...

of the western

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. The variation in altitude is vast, ranging from about 1600 m to 4200 m above mean sea level. Due to this vast variation, the park has uneven topography. The terrain ranges from gently sloping grasslands to sharp rocky outcrops and cliffs. Located high among the Park interior is the Marsar lake from which flows the Dagwan river. This river flows down to, and past, the lower region where it runs along the only proper road in the park. It supplies water to the Sarband reservoir, a source of drinking water to Srinagar. The Dagwan eventually flows into the

Jhelum Jhelum (; , ) is a city, located along the western bank of the Jhelum River, in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city in Punjab and 31st largest in Pakistan, by population. Located in northern Punjab, it serves as the capital of the ...

Flora

The mountainsides below the tree line are wooded. Most of this

coniferous forest Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

consists of broadleaf species. Interspersed between these are alpine pastures, meadows, waterfalls, and scrub vegetation with deep gullies, locally known as Nars, running down the mountain face. Most of the grasslands and meadows, except in the harsh winters, are covered with coloured flowers.

Fauna

The main animal species that Dachigam is known for is the

hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

, or the

Kashmir stag The Kashmir stag, also called hangul (), is a subspecies of Central Asian red deer endemic to Kashmir and surrounding areas. It is found in dense riverine forests in the valleys and mountains of Jammu and Kashmir and northern Himachal Pradesh. ...

. Other species include: *

Musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all eight, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family (biology), family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, b ...

(roose kat) *

Snow Leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

Himalayan serow The Himalayan serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis thar''), also known as the thar ( , ), is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to the Himalayas. It was previously considered its own species, as ''Capricornis thar''. It is the official stat ...

(

) *

Leopard cat The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a Felinae, small wild cat native to continental South Asia, South, Southeast Asia, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely di ...

(nt) *

Himalayan black bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear. It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thicker fur and smaller, whiter chest mark. The species is considered an ecological ind ...

(vu) *

Himalayan brown bear The Himalayan brown bear (''Ursus arctos isabellinus''), also known as the Himalayan red bear or isabelline bear, is a subspecies of the brown bear occurring in the western Himalayas. It is the largest mammal in the region, males reaching up to ...

Jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

Hill fox The hill fox (''Vulpes vulpes montana''), also known as the hill red fox, or the Himalayan red fox, is a subspecies of the red fox that is Native species, native to parts of the Himalayas, Himalayan Mountain Range and Karakoram, Karakoram Mountai ...

* Himalayan weasel *

Yellow-throated marten The yellow-throated marten (''Martes flavigula'') is a marten species native to the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, Southeast and East Asia. Its coat is bright yellow-golden, and its head and back are distinctly darker, blending together black, white, ...

Jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native from the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Caucasus to parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, ...

Long-tailed marmot The long-tailed marmot (''Marmota caudata'') or golden marmot is a marmot species in the family Sciuridae. It occurs in mountainous regions in the central parts of Asia where it lives in open or lightly wooded habitats, often among rocks where dw ...

Otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

Birds

* Cinnamon sparrow *

Black bulbul The black bulbul (''Hypsipetes leucocephalus''), also known as the Himalayan black bulbul or Asian black bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found primarily in the Himalayas, its range stretching from Pakistan east ...

Himalayan monal The Himalayan monal (''Lophophorus impejanus''), also called Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of . It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on th ...

Golden oriole The Eurasian golden oriole (''Oriolus oriolus''), also called the common golden oriole, is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer migrant in Europe and ...

Minivet The minivets are passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Pericrocotus'' in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. There are about 15 species, occurring mainly in forests in southern and eastern Asia. They are fairly small, slender birds with lon ...

Pygmy owl Pygmy owls are members of the genus ''Glaucidium''. They belong to the typical owl family, Strigidae. The genus consists of 29 species distributed worldwide. These are mostly small owls, and some of the species are called "owlets". The genus in ...

et *

Woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

Babbler Babbler may refer to: * Various small passerine birds: ** The Old World babblers, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds ** The Ground babblers of family Pellorneidae ** Many species in the genera ''Argya'' and ''Turdoides'' in family ...

Redstart {{Hatnote, For the ship, see USS Redstart (AM-378) Redstart is a name used for a number of songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the sci ...

Wagtail Wagtails are a group of passerine birds that form the genus ''Motacilla'' in the family Motacillidae. The common name and genus name are derived from their characteristic tail pumping behaviour. Together with the pipits and longclaws they form ...

Koklass pheasant The koklass pheasant (''Pucrasia macrolopha'') is a species of gamebird, being closely related to progenitive grouse that lived during the Miocene. They are distantly related to pheasants and are most closely related to grouse and turkeys. Kok ...

Chough A chough ( ) is any of two species of passerine birds that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'') and the Alpine chough (or yellow-billed chough) (''Pyr ...

* Orange bullfinch * Kashmir flycatcher *

Tytler's leaf warbler Tytler's leaf warbler (''Phylloscopus tytleri'') is a songbird species. Like all leaf warblers, it was formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but now belongs to the new leaf-warbler family Phylloscopidae. It is found in Afghanist ...

Streaked laughingthrush The streaked laughingthrush (''Trochalopteron lineatum'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is commonly found in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent and some adjoining areas, ranging across Afghanistan, Bhutan, In ...

* Himalayan rubythroat *

Wallcreeper The wallcreeper (''Tichodroma muraria'') is a small passerine bird found throughout the high mountains of the Palearctic from southern Europe to central China. It is the only extant member of both the genus '' Tichodroma'' and the family Tichodr ...

Black-and-yellow grosbeak The black-and-yellow grosbeak (''Mycerobas icterioides'') is a species of finch native to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, primarily the lower and middle Himalayas. It is in the family Fringillidae. The species ranges across Afgha ...

Himalayan griffon vulture The Himalayan vulture (''Gyps himalayensis'') or Himalayan griffon vulture is an Old World vulture native to the Himalayas and foothills in North and Northeastern India, as well as the adjacent Tibetan Plateau. After the cinereous vulture (''Aegy ...

Bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gypaetus''. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of ...

* Red-billed blue magpie *

Titmouse ''Baeolophus'' is a genus of birds in the family Paridae, commonly called tits. Its members are known as titmouses or titmice. All the species are native to North America. In the past, most authorities retained ''Baeolophus'' as a subgenus w ...

Introduced, non-native fish population of

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

is found in the Dagwan River.

References

External links