Keibul Lamjao National Park

Keibul Lamjao covers around forty square kilometres of Loktak Lake and is the only national park in the world made of floating ground: the phumdi, mats of vegetation and organic matter, are thick enough to carry animals, and they support the last wild population of the sangai, a brow-antlered deer endemic to Manipur that was declared extinct in 1951 and then rediscovered here in 1953 with a handful of animals. The population has recovered into the low hundreds but remains confined to this one habitat. The deer has a distinctive gait adapted to the yielding surface, and the state animal of Manipur is named for it.

What you actually see

• The floating ground - phumdi thick enough to carry deer and people.
• The sangai - the endemic brow-antlered deer found nowhere else wild.
• The watchtowers - observation points over the phumdi.
• The boat approach - access across the lake channels.

When to go

October to March; the sangai are most visible in the drier months. Boats depend on water levels. Early morning gives the best sightings from the towers.

Honest expectations

Sangai sightings are not guaranteed and the deer are wary. The phumdi has thinned because of the barrage, which threatens the habitat directly.

Nearby

Loktak Lake surrounds it; Imphal is northeast.