Dec 11, 2024
Dec 11, 2024
John Duncan lives in Colorado USA. He is a fair complexioned man with blond hair. He has a slim figure. He loves travelling. He work as a tour operator and had come to visit Similipal National Park. He had taken a guide for the tour. The name of guide is Mr. Rajesh Verma.
Rajesh said, “ Similipal is a national park and it is also the tiger reserve located in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. It has an area of 2,750 km2 or 1,060 sq mi. “
John replied, “OK. Is there elephant?”
Rajesh replied, “There is Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve and it consists of Similipal Tiger Reserve along with Hadgarh Wildlife sanctuary whose area is 191.06 km2 or 73.77 sq mi. There is Kuldiha wildlife sanctuary having an area of 272.75 km2 or 105.31 sq mi.”
John said, “That is really interesting! How does the name Simlipal National Park come?
Rajesh said, “It had been taken from a lot of red silk cotton trees found in that region. “
John asked, “ Is it a large national park?”
Rajesh said, “ Yes! It is the 7th largest national park in India.”
John said, “The park has Bengal tiger, asian elephant, chausingha and gaur.”
Rajesh replied, “Wow! That is great! Is there any waterfall?”
John said, “There are waterfalls like Barehipani and Joranda.”
Rajesh asked, “I heard that Unesco protected it, is it true?”
John said, “ Yes, UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves from 2009.”
Rajesh asked, “ Do you know the area?”
John said, “No. Just tell me and tell me about the special features of that park.”
Rajesh said, “The area is 2750 km2 and among them 303 km2 from basic area, there is a thick biosphere reserve which is the sanctuary. There are tiger projects along with national parks of our country. There is edaphic variations. We find dry deciduous and moist green forests. There are 1076 species of mammals and 29 forms of reptiles. There are 231 bird species.”
John said, “wow .. that is great! What is the height? What are the names of peaks?”
Rajesh said, “The average height of Similipal has been 900 meters. We have come across sal trees. The Khairiburu is 1178 meters and Meghasani is 1158 meters.”
John said, “What kind of flowers and tree are found here?”
Rajesh said, “ The champak flowers have a sweet scent. The orchids are richly hued. The foliage is green and soothing.”
John asked, “What are the names of rivers?”
Rajesh said, “They are Budhabalanga, Khairi, salandi, Palpala, and they emerge from hills and enter the deep forest.”
John asked, “What is special about simplipal elephant reserve?”
Rajesh said, “ They are hunting grounds and the area has been marked as tiger reserve in the year 1956 within Project Tiger on May 1973.”
John asked, “ I heard about a Mugger Crocodile Scheme?”
Rajesh said, “It began in 1979 at Ramatirtha, Jashipur.”
John asked, “What are the unique features of the park?”
Rajesh said, “ The park has been center of approximately 1076 species of the plants having 102 families. There are 96 species of the orchids. There are eastern highlands moist deciduous forest and tropical moist broadleaf forest. There are sal forests. There are savannahs and grasslands. There are aromatic and medicinal plants. The tribal people earn from these medicinal plants.”
John replied, “Wow! That is great! What are the different forms of fauna?“
Rajesh said, “ There are 42 species of mammals, 242 species of birds and 30 species of reptiles in Simlipal National Park. The mammals are leapord, tiger, sambar, asian elephant, barking deer, sambar, jiungle cat, chausingha, etc. “
John replied, “ I will definitely take photographs and write blogs on simplipal national park.”
Rajesh replied, “Definitely!”