Transcript Class 13 (Eastern Himalayan Ranges)

Eastern Himalayas
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The Eastern Himalayas comprise the tracts of the Darjeeling
Hills or North Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and eastern
Bhutan.
The region is drained by the Brahmaputra river and its
tributaries: the Teesta drains Sikkim and the Darjeeling areas,
and the Manas drains part of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh.
The Kamang and the Subansiri are the other important rivers
that drain the eastern Himalayas.
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The Eastern Himalayas can be divided into the
following climatic regions: arctic, sub-arctic, temperate,
subtropical, and warm tropical.
The forests are moist, dense, evergreen, semi-evergreen,
or temperate.
Precipitation is very high and the forest region is very
humid.
Sal forests and evergreen trees are found extensively all
along the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas.
Subtropical forests cover the hills up to an elevation of
about 2000 m.
The temperate mixed forests
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The temperate mixed forests are found up to a height
of about 3000 m followed by the alpine forests, which
consist mainly of fir, juniper, and rhododendron .
This region is the home of a large variety of animals
and birds including slow loris, rhinoceros, the golden
languar, tiger, the Indian civet, clouded leopard, the
golden cat.
The birds include heron, the white-winged wood duck,
and the snow cock.
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A number of wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere
reserves have been set up in this region to protect the
species from poachers and human encroachments.
Jaldapara, in the Bhutan foothills of Bengal, is famous
for the one-horned rhinoceros, hog deer, and tiger
floricans.
Buxa Sanctuary at the junction of Assam, northern
West Bengal, and Bhutan is a tiger reserve under the
Project Tiger and serves as a vital corridor for the
elephants migrating between the forests of Assam and
Bhutan.
It has dense deciduous forest and is the home of the
swamp deer, and leopard and many species of birds.
The Kangchendzonga national park
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The Kangchendzonga national park in Sikkim is
the home of many high-altitude mammals and
birds such as the clouded leopard, red panda,
musk deer, snow cock, and pheasants.
The principal forest types found here are the
coniferous and Alpine scrub.
The Manas sanctuary
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The Manas sanctuary, which lies on either side
of the Manas river in Bhutan and Assam has
very dense semi-evergreen and deciduous forests
and swamps and marshes.
It is famous for the golden languar which is
found only in this area.
Other animals found here include the barking
deer, sambar, and golden cat. It is also a tiger
reserve under the Project Tiger.
The Namdapa national reserve
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The Namdapa national reserve in Arunachal Pradesh is
perhaps the only protected area where all the four
major predators of the Himalayas, namely the tiger,
leopard, clouded leopard, and the snow leopard are
found.
It has a wide variety of flora and fauna as the altitude
ranges from 200 m to 4500 m.
There are evergreen, sal, deciduous, oak, coniferous and
sub-alpine forests.
It is the home of the slow loris, leopard, red panda,
hoolock, musk deer, and hornbilled duck.
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The Namdapa biosphere reserve, located in the Lohit
and Tirap districts in south-eastern Arunachal Pradesh,
is considered one of the richest biotic areas in India.
It is partly drained by the Brahmaputra river system and
has a typical tropical to subtropical monsoon climate
receiving very heavy rainfall.
The vegetation consists of moist mixed deciduous
forests, subtropical wet hill forests, wet temperate
forests, and alpine forests.
There are a very large variety of animals and birds such
as the tiger, leopard, civet, red panda, heron, hornbill,
and thrush.