Dibru-Saikhowa National Park

About Dibru-Saikhowa National Park

Dibru-Saikhowa National Park sits in the floodplains of the Brahmaputra and Dibru rivers in Assam's Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, about 12 km north of Tinsukia town. Spanning roughly 340-425 sq km depending on the boundary survey cited, it is recognised as one of the world's significant biodiversity hotspots and was declared a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve, one of the largest riverine biosphere reserves in India. The park was originally notified to protect the white-winged wood duck (Asarcornis scutulata), a globally endangered species that finds sanctuary in its swamps and semi-evergreen forest patches. Just as distinctive are its feral horses, a population of roughly 50 animals concentrated around the Churkey Chapori grasslands in the park's north, popularly believed to descend from army horses that escaped or were released during World War II supply operations through the region. Surveys have recorded 36 mammal species, 502 bird species, 104 fish species, 43 reptile species, 105 butterfly species, and around 680 plant species within the park. Primates include the Assamese macaque, rhesus macaque, and slow loris. The wetlands, particularly the adjoining Maguri-Motapung Beel, are a major wintering ground for migratory waterfowl, drawing birdwatchers alongside conservation researchers each cold season. Habitat here is unusually varied for a single protected area: tropical moist deciduous forest, tropical semi-evergreen forest, Salix swamp forest, moist evergreen patches, riverine grassland, and canebrake, shaped by the constantly shifting channels of the Brahmaputra and Dibru. Access is predominantly by country boat rather than jeep, since much of the park is riverine island and wetland terrain, giving a visit here a markedly different character from Assam's better-known dry-land parks like Kaziranga or Manas.