Jim Corbett National Park May Be Renamed ‘Ramganga’: Forest Minister

An elephant wades into the waters of the Ramganga river, which flows through Jim Corbett National Park. Photo: Gnishith 95/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

New Delhi: The Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand may be renamed as Ramganga National Park, after the river that flows through the protected forest area.

According to news agency ANI, the national park’s director said that Union forest and environment minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey, who visited the national park on October 3, had said that the name would be changed to Ramganga National Park.

Uttarakhand | Union Forest and Environment Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey who visited Jim Corbett National Park on October 3 said that the name of this national park will be changed to Ramganga National Park: Director of Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand

— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2021

The protected area, spread over 520 square kilometres of hills, riverine belts, marshy depressions and grasslands, is India’s first national park. Established in 1935, it was initially called Hailey National Park, after the governor of the United Provinces under the British Raj. According to the national park’s website, it was briefly known as Ramganga National Park after independence, between 1952 and 1957.

It was renamed in honour of Edward James Corbett in 1956, a year after the hunter, tracker and naturalist died.

In 1973, Corbett was chosen as the launchpad for India’s tiger protection programme ‘Project Tiger’ and become the country’s first tiger reserve. After last year’s count, the reserve is estimated to have 252 tigers.

This is an increase of 21 from 231 in one year, according to the annual tiger population estimation exercise jointly conducted by the state forest department and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The national park is home to species such as wild elephants, tigers, leopards, barking deer, nilgai, the slothbear, leopard cat, sambur and many others. More than 580 species of resident and migratory birds are believed to exist in the park.

The Uttarakhand government recently announced its decision to keep the Jim Corbett National Park, along with the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, open around the year. Previously, the parks remained shut for five months (June to November) during the monsoon.

While the government said the decision was taken to boost the tourism sector in the state, experts have raised concerns. According to News 18, not only do the rivers inside the reserves swell during the monsoon, leading to flooding of the jungle safari road but this period is also the breeding season for many animals. Any disturbance could lead to wildlife-human conflict, experts said.

The post Jim Corbett National Park May Be Renamed ‘Ramganga’: Forest Minister appeared first on The Wire Science.