Valley of Flowers National Park is an
Indian
national park, located in West
Himalaya, in the state of
Uttarakhand
and is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora. This
richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the
Asiatic black bear, snow
leopard,musk deer, brown bear,
red fox, and blue sheep.
Birds found include Himalayan Monal Pheasant and other high altitude
birds.
At 3600 meters above sea level,(3352 to 3658 meters) the gentle landscape of the
Valley of Flowers
National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of
Nanda Devi National Park to the east.
Together they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of
the Zanskar
and Great Himalaya. The park stretches over an
expanse of 87.50 km² and it is about 8 k.m. long and 2 k.m. wide. Both parks are encompassed in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve
(223,674 ha) which is further surrounded by a buffer zone (5,148.57 km²).
This
Reserve
is in the UNESCO
World Network of Biosphere
Reserves since 2004.