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The Sentinel P A G E 5 AUGUST 6, 2018

CMYK MurlenMurlen NationalNational ParkPark MurlenMurlen NationalNational ParkPark CMYK The Murlen National Park is a National The Murlen National Park is located at Murlen village, Park located in the district of the village of Saithuama Sailo, chief of Hnahlan, it is a Heritage , in . The park part of Hnahlan Village. The park was officially Zone has an area of 200 km. The park is declared a National Park in the year 1991. located about 245 km east of , This National Park is home to many fauna including the , , and is close to the Chin Hills and lies Sambar, Barking deer, Malayan giant squirrel, Himalayan black bear, in the north of Lengteng Wildlife Serow, , Rhesus macaque, Hume's pheasant, Kalij Sanctuary in the same district. pheasant, Grey partridge, Hill myna, and Dark-rumped swift. The park also covers an area of about The park is also surrounded by 6 caves including the Lamsial Puk, 100 km. The forest in the park consists Zokhtawar, Hnahalan and Tan Tlangis. Champhai is the closest town to of tropical, semi-evergreen and sub the park. There are many holiday resorts close to the park. Travellers montane forests and is home to variety of flora and fauna. It has been can hire taxi for transportation. recorded that there are about 15 species of mammals, 150 species of birds, 35 species of medicinal plants, 2 species of bamboos, and 4 species of orchids. There are about, 36 voluntaries involved in the conservation of the National park. On a sunny day, only about one percent of the sun's ray penetrate the forest. The thickness of the forest found in the National park is generally compared to the type of forest found in the Amazon region of South Africa. There are some trees found in the national park which are about 350 years old. There are also some areas of the park where there are no sunlight. The area has also been called as “losing area of seven fellow-men” or “land of no return”. The park has a mixture of vegetation such as Quercus, Schima wallichii, Betula, Michelia champaca, Pinus kesiya, Prunus, Myrica, , Chimonobambusa callosa, Canes and other variety of orchids and lichens.

Mountain Gorilla Fauna Zone One of the two sub-species of the eastern gorilla, the mountain living relatives gorillas are found in the highlands in eastern Africa. They are to the human. basically found in the volcanic mountains of Virunga in Central The population Africa. The mountain gorilla has a habitat which ranges across 4 of the mountain national parks throughout the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. gorilla has In Uganda'a Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the other mountain gorilla diminished species are found. rapidly due to The mountain gorilla is considered as one of the largest primates in illegal poaching the world. The male mountain gorilla, which is also known as and loss of silverback, often grows twice the size of a female mountain gorilla. habitat and is When compared to other gorilla species, the mountain gorilla has long considered as a fur covering their body allowing them to bear the hot and cold critically temperatures. endangered Despite its enormous weight, the mountain gorilla is capable hauling species. around 6m high above the ground in search of fruits and berries However , which are inaccessible from the ground. recently Mountain gorillas are herbivore in nature. Their diet is composed of scientist have shoots, leaves and stems. The adult males can consume up to 34kg discovered that of vegetation a day, while a female can consume up to 18kg the population Because it is diurnal , the mountain gorilla spends most of its waking of mountain life eating. The mountain gorilla is considered as a highly sociable gorillas are mammal and it lives in groups of around 5 to 30 individuals, including increasing in CMYK both male and female mountain gorillas. The male mountain gorilla the Democratic which is considered as the alpha, tends to rule for around 5 years and Republic of because these groups of mountain gorillas are non-territorial, the Congo despite alpha gorilla only defends his group rather than a particular territory. the ongoing war CMYK As the mountain gorillas hands are almost identical to the hands of a in that area. human being, the mountain gorilla is considered as one of the closet

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