Keibul Lamjao National Park

Gusseted as a sanctuary in 1969, Keibul Lamjao accomplished the status of national park in 1977. The park is spread over an area of 40 sq km, having wetland overgrown with 1.5 m. deep floating vegetation (called phumdi). It is situated at a distance of 50 km from the state capital, Imphal. Keibul Lamjao nestled over an island in the suburbs of the Loktak Lake.

The park is all encircled with swamps, small hills and the lake itself. Here, several streams crisscross Keibul Lamjao, which are merged with widespread marshes and makes the park a typical wetland.

Brow-antlered deer! Sangai! Dancing deer! Cervus eldii! Eld’s deer! Thamin deer! Quite a many couple of names for a single species, but that’s what special about this park. Here, you can see unusual types of deer, a graceful animal and it is found just in one state of India, called Manipur. A very rarely found species, the brow-antlered deer is found absolutely in a small region in the extreme north-eastern corner of India; Myanmar and Thailand also are part of it where this amazing creature exists.

However, in India, you can only have a sight of this beautiful creature and that’s in Keibul Lamjao National Park. Other animals that are existing in the park include otter, civet, wild boar and hog deer, wild goat, leopard cat, fishing cat and water birds, besides a number of small reed-dwelling birds. Not only this, as the Park boasts of over 450 varieties of orchids. The Loktak Lake houses to large piscine inhabitants.

The best hours to visit and explore the beauty and its rich flora and fauna are the morning and the evening hours, when the sangai comes out to feed in herds. The best months for visiting the park are January to March.