Govind Pashu Vihar National Park

Why in news?

• The Uttarakhand High Court recently reprimanded the State government for stopping some Van Gujjar families on the way to Govind Pashu Vihar National Park in Uttarkashi district and said their right to life is being violated by the authorities.

About the national park:

• Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is a national park in Uttarakhand, India established initially as a wildlife sanctuary in 1955, and was later converted into a national park.
• It is named after a prominent Indian freedom fighter and politician Govind Ballabh Pant, who became Home Minister in 1955 and is remembered for his achievement in establishing Hindi as an official language.
• The Park lies in the higher reaches of the Garhwal Himalayas.

Flora and Fauna

• The sanctuary contains western Himalayan broadleaf forests at its lowest elevations, transitioning to western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests and western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows at its highest elevations.
• Trees present in the lower parts of the sanctuary include chir pine, deodar cedar, oak and other deciduous species. At altitudes over about 2,600 m (8,500 ft), common species include conifers such as blue pine, silver fir, spruce, yew, and deciduous species such as oak, maple, walnut, horse chestnut, hazel and rhododendron.
• Mammals like the Snow leopard, Asian black bear, the brown bear, the common leopard, the musk deer, the bharal, the Himalayan tahr and the serow
• The Snow Leopard Project started by the Government of India was initiated from this national park.
• Birds found here include several endangered species such as the golden eagle, the steppe eagle and the black eagle, the bearded vulture, the Himalayan snowcock, the Himalayan monal pheasant, the cheer pheasant and the western tragopan.
• Also, it is one of the remaining strongholds in the Himalayas of the bearded vulture, a vital ecological catalyst.

Prelims Question

Govind Pashu Vihar national park is located in the state of:
(a)Himachal Pradesh
(b)Haryana
(c)Uttarakhand
(d)Karnataka 

Answer to the Prelims Question