National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in UP

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies VI.

National Parks and Wild Life Sanctuaries in UP.

Topics in detail

For each protected area know its district, its main species and its type of habitat. Learn them region by region on a map: the Terai, the Ganga and its tributaries, the wetlands of the plain, and the Vindhyan and Bundelkhand south.

Concepts

• Protected areas under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation reserves and community reserves
• Tiger reserves (Project Tiger, 1973) with core and buffer areas
• Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance) and bird sanctuaries
• State symbols: state animal barasingha (swamp deer), state bird sarus crane, state tree ashoka, state flower palash

Terai protected areas

• Dudhwa National Park (Lakhimpur Kheri): tiger, swamp deer, one-horned rhinoceros (reintroduced), sal forest and grassland
• Dudhwa Tiger Reserve: Dudhwa National Park with the Kishanpur and Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuaries
• Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (Bahraich): gharial and Gangetic dolphin in the Girwa river
• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur)
• Amangarh Tiger Reserve (Bijnor), next to Corbett
• Sohagibarwa Wildlife Sanctuary (Maharajganj) and Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary (Balrampur and Shravasti) on the Nepal border
• The Terai Elephant Reserve, covering forests of the Dudhwa and Pilibhit landscape

Southern protected areas

• Ranipur Tiger Reserve (Chitrakoot), built on the Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary
• Chandra Prabha Wildlife Sanctuary (Chandauli): waterfalls and Vindhyan forest
• Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary (Mirzapur and Sonbhadra)
• Mahavir Swami Wildlife Sanctuary (Lalitpur)

River sanctuaries

• National Chambal Sanctuary (shared by UP, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan): gharial, mugger, Gangetic dolphin, turtles
• Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary along the Ganga in the western districts
• Conservation of turtles in the Ganga and the Chambal
• Conservation of the Gangetic dolphin under the National Mission for Clean Ganga

Bird sanctuaries and wetlands

• Nawabganj (Unnao), Samaspur (Rae Bareli), Sandi (Hardoi), Saman (Mainpuri), Lakh-Bahosi (Kannauj), Patna (Etah), Parvati Arga (Gonda), Bakhira (Sant Kabir Nagar), Okhla (Gautam Buddha Nagar), Sur Sarovar or Keetham (Agra)
• Ramsar sites in UP, among them Nawabganj, Parvati Arga, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi, Sarsai Nawar, Sur Sarovar, the Upper Ganga River stretch (Brijghat to Narora), Bakhira and Haiderpur
• Migratory birds of these wetlands and the threats to them

Ex-situ conservation

• Zoos: Lucknow (Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden), Kanpur and Gorakhpur
• Etawah Safari Park (lion breeding centre and safari)
• Vulture conservation and breeding centre at Maharajganj
• Rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife

Issues

• Human-wildlife conflict: leopards and tigers near the Terai forests, nilgai and wild boar in fields
• Poaching and the illegal wildlife trade
• Encroachment, grazing and fires
• Eco-tourism and its management
• Wildlife corridors across the Nepal border

Overlaps

Conservation of wildlife and biodiversity for India is in General Studies III; ecosystems and the flora and fauna of UP on Habitat, Ecosystem, Flora and Fauna.