Plant wildlife and conservation in Shivpuri National Park, India

Abstract

Shivpuri National Park (151·99 sq km), a former game preserve of the rulers of Gwalior State, India, is situated ca 120 km south-west of Gwalior and 435 km from Delhi. The Park is inhabited by typical Indian fauna comprising the Spotted Deer or Chital ( Axis axis), Nilgai or Blue Bull ( Boselaphus tragocamelus), Black Buck ( Antilope cervicapra), Four-horned Antelope or Chausingha ( Tetraceros quadricornis), Sambar ( Cervus unicolor), Chinkara or Indian Gazelle ( Gazella gazella), and a unique variety of migratory bird. It contains tropical dry deciduous mixed and scrub forests inhabited by more than 400 species of flowering plants. The aquatic and marshland habitats are rich in animal and plant wildlife, the latter being represented by more than 100 taxa of free-floating, anchored, submerged, emergent, and terrestrial wetland, hydrophytes. During the course of this study, an ornamental herb, Craterostigma plantagineum, was collected from the region, which is so far the only record of its occurrence in India. The Park is infested by a number of pernicious weeds etc. ( e.g. Acanthospermum hispidum, Xanthium strumarium, Alternanthera pungens, and Gomphrena celosioides) which are spreading rapidly. The forest constitutes one of the last strongholds or refuges for India's fast-vanishing wildlife. Its flora and biotopes are extremely valuable from the point of view of conservation. The author makes a plea to save the flora from cattle graziers, plant collectors, dealers, and growers, and to launch a programme of sound conservation practices.