Ghamot National Park
Script error: No such module "AfC submission catcheck".
The Ghamot National Park, a high-altitude national park located in Neelum district of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The park is part of the Lower Himalayan Range and home to significant biodiversity. It is the second-largest protected area in Azad Kashmir and one of the last stretches of Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows left in Pakistan. The largest population of Cheer pheasant can also be found here. The park is popular with tourists, due to its serenity. It spreads over an area of 20,000 hectares and was notified[clarification needed] in 2004. Its highest peak reaches approximately 4,000m and is located in the upper Neelum valley. The climate is cool and it regularly snows in the winter. It is a hotspot for Sino-Himalayan fauna and was made to protect the Kashmir musk deer, Himalayan goral and Himalayan black bear which have healthy populations here. Forty species of mammals, 130 of birds, 7 types of reptiles and two amphibians are present here. Many medicinal plants including the endangered Taxus wallichiana (Himalayan yew) grow here.
Location[edit]
Ghamot National Park comprises the Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayan foothills. It nestles between 1,900 and around 4,000 meters in elevation. It is situated in Neelum District in the upper Neelum valley.
Flora[edit]
Located in the Pir Panjal Range the park is rich in plant life, and an ecoregion of the Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows type, with Deodar, blue pine, Abies pindrow and Chir pine on the lower slopes. A total of 46 medicinal plants of 31 families have been described from this area, but the number is no doubt much higher.
These plants include Mentha arvensis, Abutilon indicum and Anagallis arvensis on the lower slopes, and on the upper slopes, bushes of Artemisia maritima and the endangered Himalayan yew. Prunus cornuta and Quercus leucotrichophora may also be found on the upper slopes, and more rarely, Juniperus seravschanica. The Himalayan subtropical pine forests on the lower slopes are where the Chir pine thrives, whereas blue pine are found on the upper reaches.
Fauna[edit]
The park is home to many species of Himalayan foothill fauna, which include 40 mammals, 130 birds and a few reptiles and amphibians. Most significantly, the Cheer pheasant is found here in good numbers. Other mammals in the park include:
- Indian leopard, P.pardus millardi
- Snow leopard, P.uncia
- Masked palm civet, P.larvata grayi
- Yellow-throated marten, M.flavigula flavigula
- Red fox, V.vulpes griffithi
- Himalayan brown bear, U.arctos isabellinus
- Himalayan black bear, U.thibetanus laniger
- Long-tailed marmot, M.caudata aurea
- Red giant flying squirrel, P.petaurista albiventer
- Siberian ibex, C.sibirica sakeen
- Himalayan musk deer, M.leucogaster
- Kashmir musk deer, M.cupreus
- Himalayan goral, N.goral.
Significant birds of Ghamot include:
- Himalayan snowcock, Tetrogallus himalayanus
- Snow partridge, Lerwa lerwa
- Cheer pheasant, Caetrus wallichi
- Himalayan monal, Lophophorus impejanus
- Koklass pheasant, Pucrasia malphora
- Himalayan vulture, Gyps himalayensis
- Golden eagle, Aquila chrysaetos daphanea
Reptiles found in the park include
Tourism and management[edit]
Ghamot national park is currently managed by the AJ&K wildlife department. A large number of tourists visit Ghamot each year.
References[edit]
This article "Ghamot National Park" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ghamot National Park. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
