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Site description (2004 baseline):

Dampa Tiger Reserve is situated in Mizoram on the international border with Bangladesh. It is the largest protected area in Mizoram. The forest within the reserve is like an island surrounded by extensive bamboo tracts (Birand and Pawar 2001). The landscape is undulating, with hills running from north to south. Small, perennial rivulets flow all over the Reserve. The noteworthy rivers of the site are Teirei, Keisalam, Seling, Saza and Aivapui. The reserve consists of moist deciduous forests in the lower reaches and evergreen and semievergreen forests with natural grasslands at higher altitudes. There are large tracts of secondary forest in the landscape dominated by bamboo brakes and regenerating fallow jhum land. Dampa has one of the last remaining low to mid-elevation forests in western Mizoram. There is very little contiguity of woody forest. It is a biodiversity hotspot with a variety of flora and fauna of Indo-Malayan origin.

AVIFAUNA: Kaul et al. (1996) recorded 92 species of birds but now the total number recorded from the area has risen to 237, of which 148 are forest species. Over 217 species of birds were documented during an IBA survey of the area (Birand and Pawar 2001). Dampa TR is the only area in the northeast where there has been an ecological study on bird communities (Raman et al. 1998). The forest bird community is represented by species such as the Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis, Wreathed Hornbill Aceros undulatus, Grey Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron bicalcaratum, Red-headed Trogon Harpactes erythrocephalus, Mountain Imperial Pigeon Ducula badia, Long-tailed Broadbill Psarisomus dalhousiae, White-rumped Shama Copsychus saularis, Striped Tit Babbler Macronous gularis, White-bellied Yuhina Yuhina zantholeuca, Nepal Fulvetta Alcippe nipalensis, Black-naped Monarch Hypothymis azurea, and Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Sitta frontalis (Birand and Pawar 2001). Interestingly, the Oriental Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros albirostris, though seen mainly along riparian and secondary forest habitats in other areas, is apparently more forest restricted here. Although the dominant cover in these hills is bamboo, very few of the bird species are specialists of this habitat. Only Yellow-bellied Warbler Abroscopus superciliaris, Rufous-capped Babbler Stachyris ruficeps, Puff-throated Babbler Pellorneum ruficeps and Brown-cheeked Fulvetta Alcippe poioicephala were seen in bamboo (Birand and Pawar 2001). Birand and Panwar (2001) found that in the 50,000 ha Dampa, there are proportionally higher number of forest bird species of higher altitude affinities, compared to other similar areas (e.g. Ngengpui WLS and Palak WLS – both IBAs). This is, perhaps, because the forest here has been preserved across a wider altitudinal range, which allows more species to survive in the landscape. The Black-browed Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus cantator, a restricted range species, is also found here (Kaul et al. 1996). This species is confined to the Eastern Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (Stattersfield et al. 1998). The Dampa Tiger Reserve is a good representative of the bird fauna of Indo-Chinese Tropical Moist Forest (Biome-9).

OTHER KEY FAUNA: As the name indicates, Dampa Tiger Reserve was established under Project Tiger to conserve Tiger Panthera tigris and its habitats.

However, according to the census figures of the Forest Department, the Tiger population is very low. Only six were reported in 1996 (Jain 2001). The other predators are the Leopard Panthera pardus, Clouded Leopard Neofelis nebulosa and Wild Dog Cuon alpinus.

Dampa also has a small population of Asian Elephant Elephas maximus. Dampa is one of the two IBAs where the highest diversity of primates in India has been recorded (Choudhury 2001). Notable ones are the Hoolock Gibbon Hylobates hoolock, Phayre’s Leaf Monkey Trachypithecus phayrei, and Slow Loris Nycticebus coucang. Binturong or Bear Cat Arctictis binturong is a nocturnal animal of dense forests, hence difficult to see, but it is said to be present in Dampa.

The site is extremely important for amphibians and reptiles. Twenty species of amphibians, mainly frogs, and 43 species of reptiles, including 16 species of lizards are reported from this site (Pawar and Birand 2001). Some of the interesting species from the taxonomic, distribution or conservation point of view are Redeyed Shortleg Leptobrachium smithi, Plain Tree Toad Pedostibes kempi‘, Flat-backed Japalura Japalura planidorsata and Keeled Box Turtle Pyxidea mouhotii (Pawar and Birand 2001). In forest streams of Dampa, three species of Stream Frogs are found: Daniel’s Oriental Stream Frog Rana danieli, Brown-backed Oriental Stream Frog Rana leptoglossa, Greater Green-backed Oriental Stream Frog Rana livida.

MAIN THREATS: Poaching; Tree felling and bamboo collection; Forest fire; Jhum cultivation; Firewood and NTFP collection.

All the villages surrounding the Tiger Reserve practice slash and burn shifting cultivation (Raman 1995), and there is always the threat of fire in the Reserve during the burning season. The sudden increase in insurgency activity threatens the security of the Reserve staff. Funds and staff to manage the reserve are inadequate. There is some pressure from peripheral villagers for non-timber forest produce and firewood (Jain 2001). The inaccessible areas are well protected. If the protection remains strong, the extensive bamboo tracts will ultimately give way to woody forests (Raman et al. 1998).

Key contributors: Ayeshgul Birand, Samrat Pawar, and Anwaruddin Choudhury.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Dampa Tiger Reserve (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/dampa-tiger-reserve-iba-india on 22/11/2024.