Lies in Doda
District, some 40km north-east of Kishtwar Town. It is bounded to the
north by the Rinnay River, south by Kibar Nala catchment, east by the
main divide of the Great Himalaya and to the west by Marwa River.
33*20'-34*00'N, 75*40'-76*10'E.
The
national park encompasses the cachments of the Kiar, Nanth and Kibar
nalas, all of which drain south-west into Marwa River which joins the
Chenab River just above Kishtwar Town. The terrain is generally rugged
and steep, with narrow valleys bounded by high ridges opening out in
their upper glacial parts. The area lies in the Central Crystalline belt
of the Great Himalaya. 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 (Kurt, 1976; Bacha, 1986).
The influence of the
monsoon is weak. Mean annual rainfall at Palmar and Sirshi (1,761m),
located near the periphery of the national park, is 827mm and 741mm,
respectively. Preciptation is maximal and in excess of 100mm per month
in March and April, and again in July and August. Most snow falls in
December and January when the whole area becomes snowbound. Mean maximum
and minimum temperatures recorded at Sirshi are 13*C and -7*C in January
and 35*C and 11*C in July, respectively (Kurt, 1976; Bacha, 1986).
Based
on the revised classification of Champion and Seth (1968), some 13
vegetation types are represented (Bacha, 1986). In general, silver fir
Abies pindrow and spruce Picea wallichiana, mixed with cedar Cedrus
deodara and blue pine Pinus griffithii are predominant from 2,400m to
3,000m. Notable is the small expanse of chilgoza pina P. gerardiana 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 cornuta, bird
cherry Padus cornuta, 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 forest and this merges with
birch-rhododendron Rhododendron campanulatum scrub, above which is
alpine pasture.
Faunistically, the area is reputedly among the
richest in the Himalaya (Ranjitsinh, 1979). Bacha (1986) lists 14
species of large mammals that are present. Notable species include brown
bear Ursus arctos, leopard Panthera pardus (V), snow leopard P. uncia
(E), Himalayan musk deer Moschus chrysogaster (V), hangul Cervus elaphus
hanglu (E) and ibex Capra ibex sibirica. In addition to those listed,
wild boar Sus scrofa, Indian muntjac Muntiacus muntjac, serow
Capricornis sumatraensis, Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus, bharal
Pseudois nayaur and possibly markhor Capra falconeriare present (Kurt,
1976, 1978; Ranjitsinh, 1979; Rodgers, in prep.). The brown bear
population is perhaps the largest found anywhere in the Himalaya
(Ranjitsinh, 1979). The size of the hangul population is unknown, but it
may be limited to only a few animals (Kurt, 1978). Some 28 common
species of birds are listed by Bacha (1986). Among the pheasants,
Himalayan monal Lophophorus impejanus and koklass Pucrasia macrolopha
are present, but the status of Himalayan snowcock Tetraogallus
himalayensis and western tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus (E) is not
known (Rodgers, in prep.).
