In bringing out a set of five commemorative postage stamps on National Parks of India, India Post celebrates the unique beauty of each. Whie applauding the conservation efforts so far made, there is obviously a need to carry this movement forward with greater resolve. This set of stamps will create greater awareness of the heritage we need to preserve. India Post is proud to showcase the natural heritage of India by bringing out a set of five stamps featuring famous National parks around the country.

National Parks of India

India's rich biodiversity has fascinated people down the ages. We can boast of more than 500 species of mammals, 2,000 species of birds, 500 species of reptiles, and 30,000 species of insects. We also have an ingrained tradition of conservation stretching back in history.

However, the pressures of an increasing population have led to widespread changes in land ways. This has, in effect, led to a gradual encroachment and decimation of forest cover and water bodies, resulting in the destruction of the natural habitat which has sustained wildlife down the centuries.

While shooting for sport'Shikar', posed the greatest threat to wildlife in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is the destruction of habitat and illegal poaching for commerce that present the major problems to conservation today.

Realizing the danger, sanctuaries for protecting the wildlife, along witheir natural habitat, were set up in India from the first half of the 20th century itself and today there are more than 450 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 85 National Parks, around the country.

A comprehensive legislation called the "Wildlife Protection Act' was enacted in 1972 for providing legal protection to wildlife, and to endangered species of fauna in particular, as protecting our natural heritage and preventing the extinction of increasingly rare and endangered species of animals like the one-horned Indian Rhinoceros, the Indian elephant, the tiger, and the musk deer among other, assumed national importance.

Under this Act, the State Governments are empowered to declare any area as a Sanctuary or a National Park for the purpose of protecting and conserving wildlife and the environment. All National Parks and Sanctuaries are, however not alike. While some have been created to protect certain specific rare and endangered species, some are famous for the richness and variety of their flora as well as fauna.

Mudumalai National Park

The Mudumalai National Park lies in the state of Tamil Nadu and is contiguous to the Bandipur National Park, separated by the river Moyar that flows between the two.  It is located on a 1000mtr. high plateau at the base of the Nilgiri Hills with a core area of 104 sq.km., and was declared as a National Park in the year 1990.  Just 321 sq.km in area, the hilly terrain provides diverse habitats sustaining a great variety of wildlife including the Tiger, Leopard, Bear, Elephant, Bison, Sambar, Spotted Deer, Four-Horned Antelope, Blackbuck, Hyena, Wild Dog, Porcupine, Jackal, Python etc.  rich in bird life, most families of birds found in the Indian sub-continent including some uncommon and rare species like the Grey Jungle Fowl, Red Spur Fowl, Grey Partridge, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Magpie-Robin, Spotted Babbler, Pigeons, Brown Dove, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Harriers, Falcons and King vulture etc., may be sighted in the Park area, comprising a mixture of rain forest, evergreen, and deciduous forest and scrubland, with lofty as well as stunted trees, grass covered hills and marshy swamps.  Bamboos, natural teak, sandalwood trees, slender Indian laburnum, flame of the forest are some of the better known flora which abound.

 ( Courtesy: BROCHURE released by Department of Posts India )