Traveller GETAWAYS ARUNACHAL PRADESH nature & wildlife Traveller GETAWAYS Editorial Business Office EDITOR Amit Dixit CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Indranil Roy PROJECT EDITOR Sanjiv Valsan CONSULTING EDITOR Lasya Nadimpally Advertisements CMS EXECUTIVE Benny Joshua VICE PRESIDENT Sameer Saxena MANAGER Rakhi Puri First Edition 2019 Copyright © Outlook Publishing (India) Private Limited, New Delhi. 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A-256, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1, For updates, news and new destinations, log on to our website New Delhi-110020 www.outlooktraveller.com 2 3 contents INTRODUCTION 8 Destinations WESTERN ARUNACHAL n Pakke Tiger Reserve 22 n Western Arunachal 38 —A Birder’s Diary CENTRAL ARUNACHAL n Talley Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, 58 Ziro n Yordi Rabe Supse Sanctuary 64 n Shi Yomi District 76 n Nguda Pokcho 86 EASTERN ARUNACHAL n The Dibang Valley 92 n Kamlang Tiger Reserve 96 n Namdapha Tiger Reserve 104 Features n High-Altitude Teas 124 n Lesser-Known Fauna Of 128 Arunachal Pradesh INformation n Travel Essentials 138 n Tourist Wildlife Offices 150 n Tour Operators 151 n Adventure Tour Operators 152 n Forest Resthouses 156 n Homestays 158 NARENDRA BISHT SHUTTERSTOCK ALAMY IMAGES / INDIA PICTURE GUNEET NARULA WILDLIFE WILDLIFE & & NATURE NATURE Namdapha NP; Himalayan serow; Monpa tribe; great pied hornbill Introduction you. Wildlife travel in before the concept of ‘tiger ortheast India’s larg- any other state in India; new Arunachal is more of an reserves’ even existed; est, northernmost species are discovered here immersive wilderness expe- exceptional sightings can and greenest state, every year, making it a rience, engaging not just still be had even in private INTRODUCTION N INTRODUCTION and one of the world’s Mecca for wildlife enthusi- with animals through a long or community-managed for- greatest biodiversity asts, scientists and research- lens or pair of binoculars, ests, unlike in other parts of hotspots, Arunachal Pradesh ers. Even with such rich but also the forests and trib- India. Like everywhere else, is over 80 per cent forest, mammalian diversity, spot- al cultures that call them times and values are chang- and accounts for a signifi- ting animals, especially the home, than a conventional ing here too. The state’s cant portion of India’s natu- four big cats, tiger, leopard, series of bucket-lists and many impressive parks will ral wealth. With just 2.54 snow leopard and clouded fauna checklists. hopefully take the conserva- per cent of India’s land area, leopard, in these areas can Most forests here have tion tradition into the future; Arunachal has at least 23 be difficult, because of the traditionally been managed for the explorer, these pro- per cent of the country’s denseness of foliage and responsibly by the ancestors tected areas are a great flowering plants, over half of difficulty in reaching core of the local tribes, with strict starting point for some India’s bird species and areas due to rugged terrain. rules against cutting old really wild adventures in the more mammal density than It’s likelier that they will spot trees or killing big cats, way sunrise state. 8 9 SHUTTERSTOCK SANJIV VALSAN 1. Namdapha Tiger best place in Arunachal. Reserve Elephants and gaur can be Namdapha is the oldest seen in the clearings, and tiger reserve of the state, the evenings ring with the WILDLIFE WILDLIFE and is of the few protected anxious alarm calls of the & & forests in the world to have skittish Barking Deer. all the four big cats—tiger, common leopard, clouded 3. Kamlang Tiger Reserve NATURE NATURE leopard and snow leopard— Located in the mystic land- in one place. With an altitu- scape of the Mishmi Hills, dinal range from 200m to An Asian elephant Kamlang is one of the less 4571m above sea level, explored tiger reserves of Namdapha has huge floral 2. Pakke Tiger Reserve the state; there is also the Route to Anini and faunal diversity. Flocks Located in the East Kameng Glaw Lake (Glow Lake) here. of hornbills nesting on fig district, Pakke is one of the The entry is through Wakro 4. Dibang Wildlife trees running into dozens most visitor-friendly wildlife town, famous for its orange Sanctuary, Anini Forest are a common sight. areas of the state and is a orchards and tea gardens. Division part of the forest that con- Relatively unknown previ- INTRODUCTION Gaur tinues from Assam’s Nameri Ramsing tea gardens ously, Dibang has been INTRODUCTION Tiger Reserve, with drawing national attention approaches to the park from with the discovery of 11 Northern, Eastern and tigers in 2018. Dibang Western sides. According to Valley is inhabited by the official records, the tiger Idu Mishmi tribe, who have reserve hosts 103 species of been acknowledged for mammals, 256 species of their traditional conserva- birds, 31 species of tion practices. Access to the amphibians and 45 reptile sanctuary may be through species. For sighting the town of Anini. From lowland mammals, in gener- there on, you’ll need to trek al, Pakke is probably the and camp in tents. SHUTTERSTOCK SANJIV VALSAN 10 11 ANOKO MEGA ALAMY IMAGES / INDIA PICTURE 6. Eaglenest Wildlife Pasighat and Dibrugarh. For Sanctuary, Shergaon accommodation, there’s a This unique area is host to forest rest house at Likabali. the Bugun liocichla, a bird WILDLIFE WILDLIFE found nowhere else in the 8. Yordi Rabe Supse & & world. The sanctuary also Sanctuary, West Siang has other globally threat- Arunachal’s least-known ened species like the red sanctuary is probably its NATURE NATURE panda, clouded leopard and best-kept secret. With lush the Himalayan Serow. The tropical evergreen river val- sanctuary, accessed through leys towards one end, and the Tenga town, is also Galo tribe mist-covered forests and home to rare butterflies like rugged snow-covered peaks the Ludlow’s Bhutan glory, 7. Kane Wildlife on the other, this huge, pris- Tibetan Brimstone and also Sanctuary, Likabali some rare orchids. It’s a Among the local Galo tribe, Yordi Rabe Supse Sanctuary pleasant two-day detour for Kane is associated with sto- Mehao Lake visitors going to Bomdila ries of supernatural phe- INTRODUCTION and Tawang. nomena that are said to INTRODUCTION 5. Mehao Wildlife abound there. The sanctu- Sanctuary, Roing Rufous-breasted accentor ary also has numerous The most convenient way to patches of forest, beautiful experience Mehao Wildlife old trees, which have been sanctuary is the two-day maintained as sacred Mehao Lake trek. The groves by the locals, which approach to the sanctuary is have not seen human pres- through the town of Roing, ence in years. The sanctuary the headquarters of the can be approached from Lower Dibang Valley district, Likabali, and Silapathar which is less than two hours town is the closest railhead. away from Dibrugarh. The closest airports are at ARJUN KAMDAR SANJIV VALSAN 12 13 Courtesy EASTER FRONTIER TOURS & TRAVELS tine and untouched forest glory and Brown gorgon, might just turn out to be and researchers say that 12. Daying Ering known as the next big bio- this is the only forest in the Memorial Wildlife diversity hotspot in the world where all the three Sanctuary, Pasighat WILDLIFE WILDLIFE region, once further docu- species can be found in Daying Ering Memorial & & mentation happens. The the same place. Wildlife Sanctuary, the first outsiders to ever enter Since butterflies are an only protected wildlife this vast jungle conducted indicator species of floral area of the state that is NATURE NATURE an expedition here as biodiversity, this fact sug- situated on an island, recently as 2018, and the gests that Talley’s ecosys- can be quite interesting first tiger was documented tem is totally unique. for birding enthusiasts. the same month, suddenly Ganga Lake in Itanagar Surrounded on three putting the sanctuary on the 11. Mouling National sides by the mighty elite ‘high-altitude tiger’ spots left, like Ganga Lake Park and the ‘Dihang Siang River, the sanctu- map, along with the cloud and various riverbanks that Dibang Biosphere ary has the presence of forests of Dibang Valley and are popular picnic and fish- Reserve (DDBR)’ many globally threat- Bhutan. ing spots. Mouling National Park is ened grassland birds part of the core area of the such as the black-breast- INTRODUCTION 9. Itanagar Wildlife 10.