Nokrek National Park, Meghalaya - नोक्रेक राष्ट्रीय उद्यान

Sanctuary Name Nokrek National Park District East, West & South Garo Hills State Meghalaya Near By Cities Bangladesh Area of Park 47.48 Sq. Km. Date of Establishment 1986 Co-ordinates 25.534116, 91.330708 Wikipedia Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokrek_National_Park

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Nokrek Biosphere Reserve is located in the Garo Hills district 2 kms from Tura Peak. The reserve is one of the least disturbed forest tracts of the sub-himalayan ranges. It is the first biosphere reserve of its kind in the northeast region. The Garo Hills contain many natural limestone caves. The famous Siju Cave is located very close to the Nophak Lake near the Simsang River game reserve. The Cave is filled with water and is miles long.

This park is also located in the west Garo Hills District. Its area is 68 Sq.km. The nearest town in Meghalaya from the park is William Nagar about 60km away. The railhead is at Guwahati about 200 km from the park and the nearest airport is also at Guwahati at a distance of 210 km. The forests of the parks are tropical semi-evergreen and moist deciduous.

Mammals found in the park are capped languor, clouded leopard, leopard cat, fishing-cat, golden cat, Pangolin, wild buffalo, elephant, serow and tiger. Reptile living in the park is python. Birds found are hornbill, peacock, pheasant, hollock etc. October to May is the ideal season for visiting the park.

Geology, rock and soil

The entire Biosphere Reserve is hilly. The rock is mainly gneisses, granulites, migmatites, amphibolites and banded iron formation, intruded by basis and ultra-basic bodies. In most of the Biosphere Reserve area the soil is red loam. But sometimes it varies from clayey to sandy loam. The soils in the Biosphere Reserve are rich in organic matter and nitrogen but deficient in phosphate and potash. The area consists of patchy sedimentary rock comprising of pebble bed, sand stone and carbonaceous shales.

Fauna

Nokrek Biosphere Reserve supports a wide variety of animals. There is a great diversity of animal species like mammals, reptiles, avi-fauna and invertebrate groups. Detailed scientific study on fauna is lacking.

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