Manas National Park, a Project Tiger reserve, lies among the foothills of the Bhutan Himalayas, in the far eastern state of Assam, India. It is about 175 km away from Guwahati, the capital of Assam. The sanctuary constitutes the river Manas which also gave its name to the area. The park, which spreads over 2,837 sq km, is a vast, relatively unspoilt expanse of low-lying sal forests and grasslands. The core area of the reserve lies in Kokrajhar and Barpeta districts, whereas its outlying areas spread over the neighbouring forest reserve divisions of North Kamrup, Western Assam Wildlife Division, Kachugaon and Haltugaon. To the north lies the Royal Manas National Park, in Bhutan.
Initially known as North Kamrup, Manas was designated a wildlife sanctuary way back in 1928. In April 1973 the santuary was established as the core of the Manas Tiger Reserve, and in 1985, was declared a 'World Heritage in Danger' site by UNESCO. Manas became a national park on September 7, 1990. The only tiger reserve in Assam and also famous for the rare golden langur and the red panda, Manas is one of the best-kept national parks in India. Its home to India's second-largest tiger population. Manas' other denizens include elephants, rhinoceros, swamp deer, gaur, and more elusive species, such as the clouded leopard, golden cat, pangolin, fishing cat, pygmy hog and leopard. Manas has more than 450 species of birds, of which the great pied hornbill and the Bengal florican are among the leading stars.
In the past Manas has faced a number of problems, including deforestation, poaching and insurgency, all of which have taken a toll on the park's wildlife. The park remained closed to visitors for some years, and although it's open now, the situation’s still not very good.
The Manaswildlifesanctuary, which is also a tiger reserve and a world heritage site, is one such place in the north-east Indian state of Assam that is home to the largest number of animal species in the country.
In Manas, the golden langur has chosen to remain on the west bank of Manas river, leaving the east bank to the capped langur which is also called leaf monkey.
Besides their restricted distribution between the two rivers, Manas and Sankosh, the golden langurs live in the highlands further up in the evergreen forests in the fl mountain range of Central Bhutan and as such are considered primarily a submontane species.
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