Manipur National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries & Ramsar Sites

Manipur National Parks

Keibul-Lamjao National Park

• It is located in the Bishnupur district in Manipur.
• It is the only floating park in the world. It is an integral part of Loktak Lake (a Ramsar site).
• The National Park is characterised by floating decomposed plant materials locally called phumdis.
• It was declared a National Park to preserve the natural refuge of brow-antlered deer (also called sangai, dancing deer & Manipurs’s Eld’s deer; EN).
  • This is the last natural habitat of the endangered brow-antlered deer(Sangai deer), the dancing deer of Manipur.
• Vegetation: semi-evergreen forests, aquatic, and wetland.
• Major Fauna: brow-antlered deer, hog deer, large Indian civet, Asian golden cat.

Wildlife Sanctuaries of Manipur

Jiri Makru Wildlife Sanctuaries

• The Jiri Makru Wildlife Sanctuary is located near Imphal in the state of Manipur.
  • The sanctuary spans the West Manipur Hills and is partially located in Imphal East (Jiribam Sub-division) district and partly in Tamenglong district.
• It is located between the tributaries of the Barak river near the Assam-Manipur border.
• Major Fauna: Capped langur and hoolock gibbon.

Kailam Wildlife Sanctuaries

• Situated within the Kailam-Tipaimukh Hill Range in the district of Churachandpur, Manipur.
  • Most of the streams flow from this hill range into the Tuivai river.
• It is home to a variety of hornbills, including the Great Indian Hornbill.
• Major Fauna: Hoolock gibbon, barking deer, clouded leopard.

Others

• Bunning Wildlife Sanctuary: Barail Range.
• Khongjaingamba Ching
• Thinungei Bird Sanctuary: It is a floodplain. It is the first Bird Sanctuary of Manipur.
• Yangoupokpi Lokchao: Southeast of Loktak Lake (Keibul Lamjao National Park) along the Indo-Myanmar border.
• Zeilad: It is a group of lakes. Wildlife similar to Kailam Wildlife Sanctuary.

Ramsar Sites of Manipur

Loktak Lake

• It is the largest freshwater lake in the north-eastern region. Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world, floats over it. Thick, floating mats of weeds covered with soil (phumids) are a characteristic feature.
• It is included on the Montreux Record in 1993 as a result of ecological problems such as deforestation in the catchment area, infestation of water hyacinth, and pollution.