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Site description (2004 baseline):

Mouling NP is located in the Adi Hills of the Eastern Himalayas, adjoining the Siang River Valley. The area is c. 175 km away from Pasighat, the district headquarters. The headquarters of this Park is located at Jengging. The terrain is wholly rugged and mountainous, and the Siang river is an imposing feature of the landscape, carving through high, rugged mountains. The steep slopes are well drained by a number of streams flowing swiftly down to the deep valley of Siang. The entire Park is intersected with numerous rivers and rivulets which ultimately join the Siyum and Siang rivers. These two rivers flow from the east to the southwest side of the area. Other important rivers are Siring, Subong, Krobong and Semong, which originate from the Park. The forests of the area can be divided into the following categories: Tropical Evergreen, Tropical Semi-evergreen, Sub-tropical and Temperate Broadleaf, Bamboo brakes and secondary forest.

AVIFAUNA: This site is extremely rich in bird diversity. The combined lists of Katti et al. (1992), Haridasan et al. (1999) and Birand and Pawar (2001) total about 225 bird species.

The most notable among birds is the Chestnut-breasted Partridge Arborophila mandellii.This species had not been sighted for a long time, in its entire range of distribution.Surprisingly, the bird was fairly common during a study in April 1995 by the State Forest Research Institute and Forest Department of Arunachal Pradesh at the periphery of Mouling National Park near Seet (Haridasan et al. 1999). Singh (1999) in March 1998, heard it very often near Seet at about 1,650 m in Subtropical Broadleaf Hill Forest with dense bamboo undergrowth. Due to its small, apparently fragmented population, it is considered Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2001).

In March 1998, a group of more than six Wedge-billed Wren-Babblers Sphenocichla humei was seen near Seet in Subtropical Forest with bamboo undergrowth at 1,635 m (Singh 1999). The birds were black underneath, pointing to subspecies S. h. humei. Rasmussen and Anderton (in press) have elevated these subspecies to full species status: Sphenocichla humei and Sphenocichla roberti. This would qualify one or both for Threatened status (BirdLife International 2001).Ali and Ripley (1987) have also considered both subspecies as 'very rare resident': S. humei humei is found in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, while BirdLife International (2001) has included West Bengal also in its distribution.

This site comes under the Eastern Himalayas Endemic Bird Areas (Stattersfield et al. 1998). Of the 21 species of this EBA, nine have been found at Mouling National Park.

Two biomes are represented in this IBA: Biome-7 (Sino-Himalayan Temperate Forest) and Biome-8 (Sino-Himalayan Subtropical Forest). A small part, mainly below 1,000 m, comes under Biome 9 (Indo-Chinese Tropical Moist Forest). BirdLife International has listed 112 species in Biome-7, out of which 14 are found. This site appears to be a very good representation of Sino-Himalayan Subtropical Forest as 40 out of 96 biome species are found here. The Indo-Chinese Tropical Moist Forest (Biome-9) that has only 19 species listed is represented by six at this site. It is not possible to list all the species here but the interesting species are: Common Hill-Partridge Arborophila torqueola, Rufous-throated Hill-Partridge A. rufogularis, White-cheeked Hill-Partridge A. atrogularis, Long-tailed Thrush Zoothera dixoni Grey-cheeked Flycatcher-Warbler Seicercus poliogenys, White-spectacled Flycatcher-Warbler Seicercus affinis, Rufous-faced Flycatcher-Warbler Abroscopus albogularis, Black-faced Flycatcher-Warbler A. schisticeps, Maroon-backed Accentor Prunella immaculata, Black-backed Forktail Enicurus immaculatus, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush Garrulax monileger, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush G. pectoralis, Rufous-necked Laughingthrush G. ruficollis and Sultan Tit Melanochlora sultanea.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: The area has a very rich biodiversity. Among the mammals Tiger Panthera tigris, Leopard P. pardus, Red panda Ailurus fulgens, Goral Nemorhaedus goral, Serow Nemorhaedus sumatraensis and Takin Budorcas taxicolor are noteworthy (Haridasan et al. 1999). The other mammals found in the area are Assamese Macaque Macaca assamensis, Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus, Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis, Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica, Himalayan Palm Civet Paguma larvata, Spotted Linsang Prionodon pardicolor, Indian Wild Dog Cuon alpinus and Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus.

A total number of 24 species of amphibians and 39 species of reptiles, of which 14 are lizards have been reported from this IBA (Pawar and Birand 2001). Some of the interesting species of amphibians and reptiles are: Boettger’s Xenophrys Xenophrys boettgeri, North-western Trickle Frog Occydozyga borealis and Pied Theloderma Theloderma asperum (Pawar and Birand 2001).

MAIN THREATS: Poaching; Increasing human dependence on natural resources.

Current level of human use appears to be negligible. Occasional forays for hunting made by local people who have better access to the area by virtue of the location of their village (e.g. Bomdo) appear to be the only human disturbance. The majority of people are dependent on jhum cultivation and forest resources (Birand and Pawar, 2001).

Key contributors: Kulojyoti Lahkar, K. Haridasan and A. Birand.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mouling National Park (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mouling-national-park-iba-india on 22/12/2024.