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Site description (2004 baseline):

The Simlipal National Park is the most important protected area of Orissa, and one of the largest Tiger Reserves (2,75,000 ha) in India. At one time, it was the hunting ground of the Maharajas of Mayurbhanj, where record sized tigers were shot. In 1980, 84,570 ha were declared as a National Park - the core area continues to have four villages which have not been shifted even after 30 years. and has no human habitation. The surrounding forest was taken up as the buffer zone, where tribals continue to live their traditional life. A much larger area of 4,37,400 ha constitutes Simlipal Biosphere Reserve (Srivastava and Singh 1988) The highest peak in Simlipal hills is Khairi-buru (1178 m). There is no locality in the Simlipal hills which suffers from scarcity of water at any time of the year. Several streams flow through the Park and drain into the Bay of Bengal. The major perennial streams are the Budhabalanga, Palpala, Deo, Nekendanacha, Bandan, Kahairi and Khadkei. Simlipal is very popular with tourists who come to enjoy its scenic beauty and to see the Tiger, but most of them do not know of the rich bird life of this area. The vegetation of the Simlipal National Park ranges from Semi- Evergreen to Dry Deciduous. Semi-evergreen forest is characterized by Michelia champaca, Anthocephalus cadamba and Mesua ferrea. Moist Deciduous forest is comprised of Shorea robusta, Terminalia arjuna and T. chebula, and Dry Deciduous forest has Boswellia serrata and Acacia leucophloea. The most important species are Shorea robusta, Terminalia tomentosa, Syzygium cumini, Protium serratum and Dillenia pentagyna (Mohanty et al. 2002). More than 90 species of orchids are found in this IBA, of which atleast two are endemic (Eria meghasaniensis and Bulbophylum panigrahium).

AVIFAUNA: Despite the great importance of Simlipal National Park to the Orissa Government and Project Tiger authorities, its bird life is not well documented. However, Jain (2001) says that more than 250 species of birds are found here. Simlipal forest stands as a link between the flora and fauna of southern India and the Himalayas. For instance, the Red-breasted Falconet Microhierax caerulescens was sighted in Simlipal in 1987 (Prakash and Rahmani 1989), far south of its known range in the Himalayan foothills, Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam (Ali and Ripley 1987). BirdLife International has identified 59 species in Biome-11, of which 33 have been reported till now from Simlipal. Besides, six species of Biome-10 are also seen. Species at the northernmost extreme of their range are the Malabar Trogon Harpactes fasciatus, Malabar Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros coronatus, and Malabar Whistling Thrush Myiophonus horsfieldii. The essentially Himalayan species such as Large Green-billed Malkoha Phaenicophaeus tristis and Blue-throated Barbet Megalaima asiatica are near their southern limit in Simlipal (Kazmierczak and Singh 1998). Ripley (1978) has recorded Picus canus, another Himalayan bird with disjunct distribution in Mayurbhanj district in Orissa (see map. 6, plate 16, Grimmett et al. 1999). Other Himalayan species found in these forests are the Rufous-capped Babbler Stachyris ruficeps and Striped Tit Babbler Macronous gularis (Ripley 1978). Thus, Simlipal is a very interesting IBA, not only from the view point of protection of tropical dry forest avifauna, but also from the biogeographic point of view as it connects the Eastern Himalayan avifauna to that of the Western Ghats, albeit through a weak link.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: Important mammals of the Park include Tiger Panthera tigris, Leopard Panthera pardus, Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Sambar Cervus unicolor, Mouse Deer Moschiola meminna, Chital Axis axis, Gaur Bos frontalis, Wild Dog Cuon alpinus, Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus and Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena. Among reptiles, Mugger Crocodylus palustris is the most prominent species. King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah is also found.

MAIN THREATS: Poaching; Overgrazing on the fringes and around villages.

According to Srivastava and Singh (2002), the major issues affecting Simlipal and requiring management interventions with research data and support are: – Man-wildlife interface and mitigation of man-wildlife conflict. – Management of ecotourism. – Impacts of incompatible developmental programmes launched by other agencies. – Biodiversity status assessment and monitoring with particular emphasis on invertebrates and lower plants. – Impacts of habitat alteration. – Checking large-scale hunting, illegal extraction of timber and collection of non-timber forest products, human encroachment into forested areas, increasing cattle population, forest fire. The Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) has reported that overgrazing is the major problem, as goat rearing is very popular here. There are presently 65 villages inside Simlipal TR, all of which have a population of goats. An estimated 7000 goats from the villages inside the Park and another 70,000 from the peripheral villages of the Sanctuary graze inside the Park daily. This adversely affects wild herbivores like Sambar, Barking Deer, and Gaur. Organised poaching of Elephants, ritual mass hunting (Akhand Shikar) of animals by tribals during April, and poisoning is a major problem. Akhand Shikar (non-stop hunting) for seven days occurs in April every year. The Forest Department and NGOs have started a campaign and education programme among tribal against mass killing, because of which many villagers have now stopped participating in this organised ritual annual hunt. The tiger population (estimated at 99 as per 2004 census) is concentrated in the core area of 845 sq. kms. due to the extensive disturbance of habitat in the buffer area of 2,200 sq. kms. There is a big question mark on the future of Simplipal’s tigers. Black tigers indicative of genetic aberration have been sighted by forest officials in recent years. Some experts believe that this is the result of inbreeding of tigers since the population is confined to a small patch and no corridors for movement of tigers to other forests like Keonjhar and Kuldiha exist any more. Lack of management resources is another major problem in this large forest. The forest authorities have only four vehicles, shared by five rangers! As many as 40 posts are lying vacant (P. Das, in litt. 2000). For the last 20 years, the district authorities have not been able to shift four villages from the core area, though the Park authorities have deposited funds for this purpose.

Key contributor: Wildlife Society of Orissa.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Simlipal National Park (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/simlipal-national-park-iba-india on 23/12/2024.