Introduction
Papikonda National Park contains valuable and varied flora supported by variety of fauna including carnivores and herbivores. The area is mostly is inaccessible with hilly terrain with high slopes & valleys. The area plays a key role in high precipitation and the consequent origin of various small streams and rivulets which drain and enrich the perennial River Godavari.
The park exists in the Eastern Ghats which is known for rich floristic diversity with more than 2531 species under 700 genera and 125 families constituting about 13% of the flowering plants of India.
The park includes 92 bird species recorded which includes the common peacock, Red jungle fowl, etc., and reptiles like Indian python, king cobra, Indian cobra, monitor lizard, chamaelon, fresh water crocodile, Indian Golden gecko etc.
The park has floral species with a high degree of ecological significance. There are around 31 species of plants that are being red listed and been recorded in ENVIS website are present in the park.
The park is also know for agro-biodiversity with the presence of 96 species which are wild relatives of crops.
A unique dwarf breed of goat known locally as the “kanchu mekha” originates in this region.
The predominant and most extensive forest type found in the park is Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous type (Type 5A) and the species found in this type are mainly dry deciduous species.
| CLIMATE : TROPICAL |
| TERRAIN : SLOPY (30% to 50%) |
| ROCKS : Granite, Graphite, Gneisses, and associated Rocks, Ferrugenous quartzites, banded magnetite and quartz. Most are metamorphic rocks |
| SOIL : Lateritic, alluvial, Loamy and black |
| RAINFALL: 934 to 1375 mm |
| TEMPERATURE : 170C to 370C and at certain times a max. of 480c |
| KEYSTONE : SPECIESGAUR |
| SUBMERGENCE AREA OF INDIRA SAGAR PROJECT (POLAVARAM PROJECT) |
| RESERVE FOREST : 148.38 Ha. |
| NON FOREST : 1553.00 Ha. |
Stage set for maiden survey of butterfly species in Papikonda National Park
The experts led by Kerala-based environmental forum — Warblers and Waders — would carry out the survey with an aim to record all the species of butterfly, apart from an exclusive study on the “Migratory species of Butterfly” in the national park in the Papikonda hill range in the Eastern .
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Convention 2020
“A total of 50 experts, including ornithologists, have been roped in the scientific survey. The findings and report of the survey will be presented at the ‘Conference of Parties to Convention on Migratory Species’ at the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species to be held in Gandhinagar in February 2020,”
Located near Rajamahendravaram in the Papi hills is papikonda national park in the east and the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh covering an area of 1012.86 km sq it is home to some endangered species of flora and fauna being an important bird and biodiversity area. River Godavari flows through the National Park .
It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in the year 1978 and was later upgraded to a national park in 2008.
In the year 2016, the BirdLife International recognized this park as an important bird and biodiversity area. Malabar pied hornbill, yellow-throated bulbul, pallid harrier, river lapwing, and black-bellied tern are some of the endangered, near threatened, and vulnerable species of birds included in reports.
Black-throated munia, Malabar trogon, Indian scimitar babbler, and Malabar whistling thrush are some of the tropical moist forest species of birds seen here.
A subspecies of the bird was seen around the periphery of the national park; this bird was named after Ornithologist K.S.R. Krishnan Raju.