Terai vs Assam

[Jimmy]

@parvez, Thanks, Actually Nepal is a broader term So iam concentrating solely on Terai stretch of land that runs parallel to the himalayas. So here i go, by diversity in Terai i mean topography, like variation in altitude, as well as wetness and dryness. eg. dryland animals like nilgai, blackbuck, striped hyenas and in some places wolves (not found in Nepal's Terai) are found, then there are also wild dogs, serows in hilly regions and wetter parts. I am not sure if these animals are found in Assam. Chital is also absent from Assam parks to my knowledge, or is it Kaziranga iam not too sure. Then there are hog deer, gaur, wild buffaloes (which are now extinct from major terai region but found in eastern Nepal), swamp deer sambar, sloth bear and himalayan black bear (found in Bardia but not in Chitwan)which are found in both regions. Also muggers and gharials in aquatic ecosystem are found in Terai. However, Assam has got numbers and density of animals in it's side i.e. there are large hervibores in great numbers, different species of herbivores share the same ecosystem wheras in terai they are distributed and spread in different ecosystem without overlapping. Regarding grasslands you are correct Terai is mostly forest (chitwan is 70% forest and 20% grassland) what about Manas national park it's simialr to Terai i assume (i know Kaziranga has more grassland than forest). though there is huge chunk of grassland in Shuklaphanta which infact has the biggest natural grassland in Nepal 25s q.kms of grass land. I will be interested to know about vegetation and topography of Assam esp Manas and Kaziranga. To my knowledge, historically, Terai also had vast grassland but was cleared for agriculture because forest was deemed more productive than grasses back then. Reply