NATIONAL PARKS OF INDIA BENGAL TIGERS & FOREST WILDLIFE

NATIONAL PARKS OF INDIA BENGAL TIGERS & FOREST WILDLIFE 

   Our national parks host millions of people a year, maintain countless species, and protect some of the most impressive landscapes on the planet. They preserve natural and cultural resources "for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations". Here's how to make the most of your next trip to the national parks.

  National park, an area reserved by a national government for the preservation of the natural environment. A national park may be reserved for recreation and public enjoyment purposes or for its historical or scientific interest. Most of the landscapes and the plants and animals that accompany them in a national park are kept in their natural state. National parks in the United States and Canada tend to focus on protecting land and wildlife, those in the United Kingdom focus primarily on land, and those in Africa exist primarily to conserve animals. Several other countries have large reserved areas in national parks, notably Brazil, Japan, India, and Australia.

  

     These are some of the best national parks in India that will give you experiences for a lifetime.

Great Himalaya National Park, Himachal Pradesh

   The youngest national park in India, covering almost 750 km2 in the Kullu district, encompasses pristine forests, glaciers, snowy peaks and streams. The Tirthan River originates deep within the park. Along with rare plant species, especially Nag Chattri, a potent aphrodisiac in one of its many beneficial avatars, the park is home to around 180 rare bird and mammal species such as the Himalayan black bear, musk deer, and the ever-elusive leopard of the snows. You can also see the goral, a small antelope, and the tahr, a gravity-defying mountain goat clinging to the cliff. It is also the habitat of the Western Blue-horned Tragopan, a beautiful and rarely seen pheasant. Entry permits are available at the Interpretation Center in the town of Sairopa.

Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh

   A couple of days in this extremely popular national park guarantees some encounters with the Royal Bengal tiger, which, due to its relatively small area, boasts perhaps the highest concentration of striped cat in the world. In addition to the most prominent tigers, Bandhavgarh's star attraction is the leopard - there are around 40 of these creatures around here, compared to about 45 tigers. Other than that, the 435-square-kilometer park contains nearly 40 species of mammals, including deer, wild boar, Indian bison, sambar, barking deer, and langur, some 250 species of birds, and various reptiles.

Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand

    Striped tigers roam majestically through an expansive savannah, grumpy elephants function as unexpected obstacles, Gaharan crocodiles feast on the banks of limpid green streams, and hundreds of eyes spy on you from the primary depths of an evergreen forest. Established in 1936 as India's first national park, Corbett takes its name from the legendary tiger hunter Jim Corbett (1875-1955), who put Kumaon (the forest district) on the map with his famous The Maneaters of Kumaon book. With an area of ​​more than 1,300 km2, this wild Terai land is home to almost 200 tigers, around 300 wild elephants, sloth bears, langur monkeys, rhesus macaques, peacocks, otters, gharials and various species of deer, among other animals. . The varied landscape of the park, ranging from dense vegetation to rolling grasslands.

Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan

   Comprising 1334 sq km of wild jungle scrub hemmed in by rocky ridges, this famous park, open from October to June, is the best place to spot wild tigers in Rajasthan. At its centre is the amazing 10th-century Ranthambhore Fort, scattered around which are a number of ancient temples and mosques, hunting pavilions, crocodile-filled lakes and vine covered chhatris. The most famous resident of the park is of course the tiger. However, getting an accurate figure on the number of tigers comes down to who you believe – the park probably has around 32 tigers. Spotting one is a matter of luck; you should plan on two or three safaris to improve your chances. The only way to travel into the core of the national park is by going on the safari. These safaris are usually done in open-top canters and Gypsys. But remember there’s plenty of other wildlife to see including more than 300 species of birds.

Sunderbans National Park, West Bengal

The Sunderbans Tiger Reserve is the showpiece attraction of coastal West Bengal. Although an encounter with the famed Royal Bengal tiger is not guaranteed, a boat cruise on the muddy rivulets meandering through dense mangrove forests is sure to thrill you to no end. Home to one of the largest concentrations of royal Bengal tigers on the planet, the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve is a network of water channels and semi-submerged mangrove forests that collectively form the world’s largest river delta. Tigers (officially estimated to number close to 300) lurk in the impenetrable depths of the mangrove forests, and also swim the delta’s rivulets. Although they sometimes kill villagers and their cattle, tigers here are typically very shy and sightings are thus rare. Nevertheless, cruising the waterways through the world’s biggest mangrove  sanctuary (now a Unesco World Heritage Site) and watching wildlife – whether it be a spotted deer, a 2m-long water monitor of a luminescent kingfisher – is a world away from your usual urban chaos.

Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is the king of the jungle when it comes to tiger parks, and Kanha is the most famous of all the jungles in the Central India region. The forests are vast and your chances of seeing tigers are good. Also, you can really go deep into the forest here and have a great safari experience. An excursion in Kanha scores in terms of authenticity. Unlike the obligatory quick exits that Bandhavgarh is known for, Kanha allows you to roam the forests at will, running the distance to spot a tiger instead of the tiger approaching you. Admittedly, this reduces the probability of tiger sightings compared to Bandhavgarh, but here you will feel the forest which is much more original than many other parks in India.

Bandipur National Park, Karnataka

   Bandipur, a completely enchanting forest, offers you the opportunity to indulge in the lap of nature, while allowing you to catch up on the wildlife of India. And you don't need to distance yourself from urban conveniences. As part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Bandipur National Park is one of the most famous wilderness areas in South India. Covering an area of ​​880 square kilometers, it was once the Mysore Maharaja Private Game Reserve and was notified as a national park and tiger reserve in 1974 (when it entered the India Tiger Project scheme). A thriving forest, Bandipur is now a protected area for more than 100 species of animals, including tigers, elephants, leopards, gaur (Indian bison), chital or spotted deer, sambars, lazy bears, and langurs. It is also home to an impressive 350 species of birds.  

Mudumalai National Park, Tamil Nadu

   In the foothills of the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu, this 321-square-kilometer forest preserve is like a classic South Indian landscape painting that comes to life: slender, slender trees and leaves with clear grooves that hide spotted and grunting chital deer boars. The display species in Mudumalai is the striped Royal Bengal tiger. There are around 50 tigers lurking in these jungles, giving Mudumalai the highest density of tigers anywhere in the country. However, like any other nature reserve, you will have to be extremely lucky to spot one. In general, however, the reserve is the best place to observe wildlife in Tamil Nadu. The creatures you are most likely to see are deer, peacock, wild boar, langur, and giant Malabar squirrel. There is also a significant chance of spotting wild elephants (the park has several hundred) and gaur or the Indian bison.

Kaziranga National Park, Assam

   You'll experience rhino-mania at its peak in the windswept expanses of this national park in Assam, home to the largest population of the one-horned beast in India. Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of the enchanted savannas at this Unesco World Heritage site. When it comes to zoological heritage, there are few national parks in India that match Kaziranga's vast coffers of wealth. Home to around 1,800 rhinos, it boasts the world's largest population of the hulking but utterly cute creature, seemingly making up about two-thirds of the world's total rhino population. Other than that, Kaziranga is known to harbor the highest density of tigers among all designated parks and sanctuaries worldwide. And this doesn't even affect its resident elephant population (which is believed to be around 2000), and other exotic species such as swamp deer, water buffalo, leopards, and various species of resident and migratory birds.