Kishtwar National Park
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Kishtwar National Park is 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 ...
located 40 km from Kishtwar town in the
Kishtwar district Kishtwar district is an administrative district of the Jammu division of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir of the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the ...
of
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It is bounded to the north by Rinnay river, to the south by Kibar Nala catchment, to the east by the main divide of
Great Himalaya The Great Himalayas (also known as Greater Himalayas, Inner Himalayas, or Himadri) is one of the four parallel sub-ranges of the Himalayas. It is the highest in altitude and extends for about from northern Pakistan to the Indian state of Arunac ...
, and to the west by Marwah river.


Date and history of establishment

It was declared a National Park on 4 February 1981 (Notification no. 21/FST of 1980-1981). *Area *Land Tenure state *Altitude Ranges from 1,700 m to 4,800 m


Physical features

The National Park encompasses the catchments of Kiar, Nath and Kibar Nalas, all of which drain south-west into Marwah River (also known as
Marusudar River Marusudar river or Maru Sudar river is the largest tributary, river tributary of the Chenab River, beginning at the Nunkun glacier of the Warwan Valley and joining the Chenab at Bhandarkoot in the Kishtwar district. As of 2021, 1000MW Pakal Dul Da ...
) which joins the Chenab River just below the Kishtwar Town at Bhandarkoot village. The terrain is generally rugged and steep, with narrow valleys bounded by high ridges opening in their upper glacial parts. The area lies in the Central Crystalline belt of the Great Himalayas. Rocks are strongly folded in places and composed mainly of granite, gneiss and schist, with the occasional bed of marble. The shallow, slightly alkaline soils are mostly alluvial with gravel deposits.


Climate

The influence of the monsoon is weak. Mean annual rainfall at palmar and Sirshi (1,761 m), located near the periphery of the national park, is 827 mm and 741 mm, respectively, precipitation is maximal and in excess of 100 mm per month in March and April, and again in July and August. Most snow fall in December and January when the whole area becomes snowbound. Mean maximum and minimum temperatures recorded at Sirshi are 130 and -70 in January and 350c and 110c in July respectively.


Vegetation

Based on revised classification of Champion and Seth (1968), some 13 vegetation types are represented. In general, silver fir 'Abies pindrow' and spruce 'Picea wallichian', mixed with cedar ''Cedrus deodar'' and blue pine ''Pinus griffithii'' are predominant from 2,400m to 3,000m. Notable is the small expanse of chilgoza pine ''Pinus geradiana'' in the Dachan Range. At lower altitudes (1,700-2,400m) occur nearly pure stands of cedar and blue pine, and moist temperate deciduous forest, represented by horsechestnut, ''Aesculus indica'', walnut ''Juglans regia'', maple, ''Acer spp''. poplar, ''Populus ciliata,'' hazel ''Corylus cornutam'' bird cherry ''Pasus corfnuta,'' ash ''Fraxinus cornuta'' and yew ''Taxus wallichiana''. The sub-alpine zone, from 3,000m to the tree line at 3,700m, supports mostly silver fir and birch ''
Betula utilis ''Betula utilis'', the Himalayan birch (''bhojpatra'', ''bhūrjá''), is a deciduous tree native to the Western Himalayas, growing at elevations up to . The Latin specific epithet ''utilis'' means "useful", and refers to the many uses of the dif ...
'' forest and this merges with birch -rhododendron ''
Rhododendron campanulatum ''Rhododendron campanulatum'', the bell-flowered rhododendron or bell rhododendron, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to northeastern India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, and southern Xizang in China, where it grows ...
'' scrub, above which is alpine pasture. Among the animals that make their home here include the
Himalayan snowcock The Himalayan snowcock (''Tetraogallus himalayensis'') is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae found across the Himalayan ranges and parts of the adjoining Pamir range of Asia. It is found on alpine pastures and on steep rocky cliffs w ...
and the
brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...
.


Cultural heritage

Racial groups include Kashmiris, Thakurs, Gujars, Rajputs and Brahmans, Bhagats.


Local human population

There are permanent settlements but some 1,115 families of nomadic graziers, with 25,000 head of livestock, and an unspecified number of families from nearby villages, with 10,000 head, have grazing rights in the national park. Some agriculture is practised in peripheral areas.


References

{{Jammu and Kashmir National parks in Jammu and Kashmir Kishtwar district Western Himalayan broadleaf forests Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests 1981 establishments in Jammu and Kashmir Protected areas established in 1981