Govind Wild Life Sanctuary

The Govind National Park is located in Uttarkashi district of Uttaranchal. It was established on 1st March, 1955. It spreads over an area of 957.969 sq. km. with a varying altitude of 1.300 m to 6, 323 m. Govind National Park is also known as Govind Pashu vihar. The average annual precipitation varies from 1,000 to 1,500 mm. most of which occurs as monsoon rains (July to Sept). The area is much sought after by Ayurvedic practitioners as it is rich in medicinal plants. Many of such plants are life saving drugs. The Sanctuary forms upper tons of river, which is the most important tributary of river Yamuna. The entire area receives a light to heavy snowfall.

The scenic beauty here is breath taking. It also serves as a home to endangered species like snow leopard. The Snow Leopard inhabits the inner Himalayas above the altitude of 3,500 m. The government of India has taken initiatives to protect this species by intentionally declaring the upper reaches ( the Snow Leopar habitat) as a National park, which covers an area of 472.o8 sq km. It is at a distance of 200 km from Dehradun. It can also be reached from Delhi by taking 65 km long divergence from Naugaon located on the Delhi Yamunotri state highway.

Legend

It is mentioned in the epic Ramayana, that Laxman, brother of Lord Rama was seriously injured in the battle against Ravana. Lord Hanuman, who set out to get the remedy for him, first crossed Palk Strait, then flew over Indian subcontinent until he arrived at Uttaranchal and got the medicine.

Trek

There are four main route which are known fo trekking, the moderate one being the 38 km Sankri- Taluka- Osla- Har ki Dun route. The other three routes comprises of Sankri to Taluka to Osla finishing at Ruinsara Tal covering 40 km. The other one is 20 km beginning from Ruinsara to Yamunotri which is a high altitude trek. The hardest trek is that of 60 km long from Naitwar- Himri-Droni- Rupin Pass- Sangla route. It partly lies in Himachal Pradesh.

Fauna

Govind National Park is naturally blessed area with dense forest providing shelter for many animals. There are about 15 species of mammals found here. It is reported that 150 species exist in Govind National Park. The most important of these are Himalayan Snow Leopard, Himalayan Black Bear, Brown Bear, Bharal, Himalayan Thar, Serow, Musk Deer and common Leopard etc. Some of the endangered birds found in this region are Monal Pheasant, Koklas Pheasant, Bearded Vulture, Himalayan Snow Cock, Golden Eagle, Western Tragopan, Steppe Eagle and Black Eagle. Other significant groups of birds are Owls, Pigeons, Minivets, Thrush, Warblers, Bulbul, Cuckoo and Finches etc. As in other areas of the Himalayas, owing to low density and rugged terrain, the animal sighting is very poor.

General Information