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North East

Chitwan National Park

Royal Chitwan National Park (‘Chitwan’ means "in the heart of the jungle’) covers 932 sq. km. in the flat lowland region of southern Nepal. It is one of the most important sub-tropical parks on the Indian subcontinent with populations of the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, Greater One-horned rhinoceros, Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica), Wild Asian elephant, Gaur, Golden Monitor lizard, Gharial crocodile and many more.

The Chitwan region has had a long history of conservation. For many years it was the Royal hunting grounds for the Kings and dignitaries of Nepal and therefore was not hunted by the general public. It did however become a favorite spot for big game safari hunters in the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth centuries. This was coupled with a surge in local human populations following the development of anti-malaria medicines in the mid-twentieth century. The long-term effect was a drastic decrease in jungle habitat and animal populations in the Chitwan valley as jungles were converted to farmland and big game were hunted and poached to dangerously low numbers. The falling rhino (less than 200) and tiger (less than 30) populations in the present park region, focused attention on the Chitwan region and in 1963 the southern two-thirds of the park were declared rhino sanctuary. With sanctuary status came the relocation of 22,000 people from the Chitwan valley and a moratorium on hunting. Since 1963 wildlife populations and ecosystems have been rebounding. In 1973 Chitwan became Nepal’s first National Park. The relatively pristine state of the modern park and its unique ecosystems prompted UNESCO to declare the park a World Heritage site in 1984.

Park facilities include Display Center, Kasara; Library at Kasara Saurah; Visitor Center, Sauraha; Machans (View tower).
Activities include Elephant ride, Canoeing and Terai culture

Fauna:

There are more than 43 species of mammals in the park. The park is specially renowned for the protection of the endangered one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, gharial crocodile, gaur, wild elephant, four horned antelope, striped hyena, pangolin, samber, chital, hog deer, barking deer, sloth bear, common leopard, ratel, palm civet, wild dog, langur, rhesus monkey, etc.

There are over 450 species of birds in the park. Among the endangered birds are Bengal florican, giant hornbill, lesser florican, black stork and white stork, Few of the common birds seen are peafowl, red jungle fowl, and different species of egrets, herons, kingfishers, flycatchers and woodpeckers. The best time for bird watching is March and December.

More than 45 species of amphibians and reptiles occur in the park and some of which are marsh mugger crocodile, cobra, green pit viper and various species of frogs and tortoises.

Best time to visit:

The park is under the tropical monsoon climate with relatively high humidity. The winter, spring and monsoon are the three main seasons. The cool winter season occurs from October to February. The spring begins in March and is soon followed by summer that ends in early June. The summer days are typically hot with 30 C on average day temperature.

The monsoon time (end of June and to September) is best avoided.

Flora:

The Chitwan valley is characterized by tropical to subtropical forest. 70% of park vegetation is predominantly Sal (Shorea robusta) forest, a moist deciduous climax vegetation type of the Terai region. The remaining vegetation types include grassland (20%), riverine forest (7%) and Sal with Chirpine ( Pinus roxburghii ) (3%), the latter occurring at the top of the Churia range. The riverine forests mainly consists of khair, sissoo and simal. The simal is with spiny bark when young and develops buttress at the bottom in older stage. The grasslands form a diverse and complex community with over 50 species. The Sacchrum species, often called elephant-grass can reach 8 m in height. The shorter grasses such as Imperata is useful for thatch roofs.

Go there for:

One-Horned Rhino, Royal Bengal Tiger

How to Reach:

by road :
The park is accessible by car on the Kathmandu-Mugling-Narayanghat Highway and or through Mahendra Rajmarg Highway from Hetauda. It is about 6 hour's drive from Kathmandu to Narayanghat. A 6 km walk or bullockcart ride brings the visitors to Sauraha, the park entrance.

by air :
Also air services from Kathmandu to Meghauli for US$82 each way and Bharatpur US$65 each way are available. Local buses are available form Narayanghat to Park HQ. Kasara.


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