Papikonda National Park

Papikonda National Park
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[[File:Papikondalu view 16.jpg -->|284px]]
Location	Andhra Pradesh, India
Area	1,012.86 km2 (391.07 sq mi)
Established	1978

Papikonda National Park is a national park in India, located near Rajamahendravaram in the Papi Hills of the Alluri Sitharama Raju and Eluru districts<!--Not in Bhadrachalam municipality of old Khammam anymore--> of Andhra Pradesh, and covering an area of 1,012.86 km² (391.07 sq mi).<ref>"Wildlife Protected Areas Andhra Pradesh". 2014.</ref><ref name=papikonda>"Papikonda Wildlife Sanctuary". AP forest department. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.</ref> It is an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and home to some endangered species of flora and fauna.<ref name=":1">Rahmani, A. R.; Islam, M. Z.; Kasambe, R. M. (2016). Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in India: Priority Sites for Conservation (Revised and updated ed.). India: Bombay Natural History Society, Indian Bird Conservation Network, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and BirdLife International U.K. pp. 206–208. ISBN 978-93-84678-02-9.</ref> No part of Papikonda remains outside East and West Godavari districts after 2014 and the construction of Polavaram Dam.

History

Papikonda Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1978.<ref name=":0">Gujja, B.; Ramakrishna, S.; Goud, V.; Sivaramakrishna (2006). Perspectives on Polavaram, a Major Irrigation Project on Godavari. Academic Foundation. ISBN 9788171885787.</ref> It was upgraded to a national park in 2008.

Geography

The national park's boundaries lie between 18° 49’ 20" N to 19° 18’ 14" N, 79° 54’ 13" E to 83° 23’ 35" E spread across the Alluri Sitharama Raju and Eluru districts of Andhra Pradesh. Its altitude ranges from 20 to 850 m (66 to 2,789 ft), and it receives an annual rainfall of 1168&nbsp;mm. Godavari River flows through the park.<ref name=":1" />

Flora

The vegetation of Papikonda national park contains species of moist deciduous and dry deciduous forests.<ref name=":0" /> Tree species include Pterocarpus marsupium, Terminalia elliptica, Terminalia arjuna, Adina cordifolia, Sterculia urens, Mangifera indica, Anogeissus latifolia.<ref name=":1" />

Fauna

Mammals

The mammals either sighted or recorded by camera traps includes Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, Rusty-spotted cat, Jungle cat, Leopard cat, Sloth bear, Small Indian civet, Asian palm civet, Wild boar and Honey badger. Herbivores recorded include spotted deer, Sambar deer, Indian muntjac, Indian spotted chevrotain, Gaur, Nilgai and Four-horned antelope.<ref name=":2">Aditya, V.; Ganesh, T. (2017). "Mammals of Papikonda Hills, northern Eastern Ghats, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 9 (10): 10823–10830. doi:10.11609/jott.3021.9.10.10823-10830.</ref>

The national park has population of both Rhesus macaque which are normally found north of Godavari and Bonnet macaque that are usually found south of Godavari. Gray langurs are also seen inside the national park.<ref name=":1" /> The presence of water buffaloes in the area was recorded during the British imperial time.<ref>Francis, W. (1989). Gazetteer of South India. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 270.</ref>

Birds

The national park was recognized as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area by BirdLife International in 2016. Some of the endangered, vulnerable and near threatened species of birds reported includes Black-bellied tern, Pale-capped pigeon, Yellow-throated bulbul, Oriental darter, Pallid harrier, Great Thick-knee, River lapwing, River tern, Malabar pied hornbill, Alexandrine parakeet.

Some of the tropical moist forest species of birds sighted were Black-throated munia, Indian scimitar babbler, Jerdon's nightjar, Malabar trogon Malabar whistling thrush. A subspecies of Abbott's babbler identified and named after ornithologist K. S. R. Krishna Raju was sighted around the periphery of the national park.<ref>Ripley, S. D.; Beehler, B. M. "A new subspecies of the babbler genus Malacocincla abbotti from the Eastern Ghats, India". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 105 (2): 67.</ref>

Reptiles

Indian golden gecko, endemic to the Eastern Ghats was reported from this national park.<ref>S.M., M. J.; Archana, W.; Tampal, F. (2007). "On the Occurrence of Golden Gecko (Calodactylodes aureus) in Papikonda Hills, Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India" (PDF). Zoos' Print Journal. 22 (6): 2727–2729. doi:10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.1735.2727-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2018.</ref> King cobras were sighted in and around the protected area.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Satyanarayana, J. E.; Balaji, K. (2018). "King Cobra: Occurrence of Ophiophagus hannah in Papikonda National Park, Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh". Zoo's Print. 33 (3): 15–18. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2018.</ref>

Threats

Poaching, forest fires and clearing forest for cultivation are some of the threats.<ref>Ganesh, T.; Aditya, V. (2018). "Deciphering forest change: Linking satellite-based forest cover change and community perceptions in a threatened landscape in India". Ambio. 48 (7): 790–800. doi:10.1007/s13280-018-1108-x. PMC 6509315. PMID 30406924.</ref>

External links

• Pakikonda National Park marked on OpenStreetMap