NATIONAL
PARKS IN NEPAL
CHITWAN
NATIONAL PARK
Area :
932 sq. km.
Established : 1973
LOCATION
Royal
Chitwan National Park, the oldest
national park in Nepal, is situated
in the subtropical inner Terai lowlands
of South-Central Nepal. The park was
designated as a World Heritage Site
in 1984.
The
park covers a pristine area with a unique
ecosystem of significant value
to the world. It contains the Churiya
hills, ox-bow lakes and flood plains
of Rapti, Reu, and Narayani Rivers.
Approximately 70% of the park vegetation
is saal forest. The remaining vegetation
types include grassland (20%), riverine
forest (7%), and sal with chirpine (3%),
the latter occurring at the top of the
Churiya range. The riverine forests
consist mainly of khair, sissou and
simal. The grasslands form a diverse
and complex community with over 50 species.
The Saccharum species, often called
elephant grass, can reach 8 m. in height.
The shorter grasses such as Imperata
are useful for thatch roofs.
There
are more than 43 species of mammals,
over 450 species of birds, and more
than 45 species of amphibians and reptiles
in the park.
Formerly,
the Chitwan Valley was well known
for big game hunting and until 1950
was exclusively managed as a hunting
reserve for the Rana Prime Ministers
and their guests. In 1963, the area
south of the Rapti River was
demarcated as a rhinoceros sanctuary.
In 1970, His late Majesty King Mahendra
approved, in principle, the creation
of Royal Chitwan National Park.
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FEATURES OF CHITWAN NATIONAL PARKS
Within
the park lie the Churia hills,
ox-bow lakes, and the flood plains of
Rapti, Reu and Narayani Rivers.
The Churia hills rise gradually towards
the east from 150m. to over 800m. elevation.
The lower but more rugged Someshwor
hills occupy most of the western portion
of the park. The flood plains of Chitwan
contain rich alluvial soils. The
park boundaries have been delineated
by the Narayani and Rapti Rivers
in the north and west, and the Reu river
and Someshwor hills in the south and
south-west. It shares its eastern border
with the Parsa Wildlife Reserve.
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SEASONS
OF CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK
The
park is influenced by a tropical
monsoon climate with relatively
high humidity. Winter, spring and monsoon
are the three main seasons. The cool
winter season occurs from October to
February. Spring begins in March and
is soon followed summer that ends in
early June. Summer days are typically
hot with up to an average 30C daytime
temperature. The monsoon usually begins
at the end of June and continues until
September. The mean annual rainfall
is about 21-50 mm. and during this time
of the year rivers are flooded and most
of the roads are virtually impassable.
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VEGETATION
OF CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK
The
Chitwan Valley is characterized
by tropical to sub-tropical forest.
Roughly 70% of park vegetative cover
is sal (shorea robusta) forest, a moist
deciduous vegetation type of the Terai
region. The remaining vegetation types
include: grassland (20%), riverine
forest (70%), and sal with chirpine
(pinus roxburghii) (3%) forest,
the latter occurring at the tops of
the Churia range. The riverine forests
consist mainly of khair, sissoo, and
simal. The simal has a spiny bark when
young and develops buttresses at the
bottom in older stages. The grasslands
form a diverse and complex community
with over 50 species.
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ANIMALS
OF CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK
There
are more than 43 species of mammals
in the park. The park is especially
renowned for its protection of the endangered
one- horned rhinoceros, tiger, and
gharial crocodile along with many other
common species of wild animal. The
estimated population of rhinos is 400.
The park also secures populations of
endangered species such as gaur,
wild elephant, four horned antelope,
striped hyena, pangolin, Gangetic dolphin,
monitor lizard, and python.
Some
of the other animals found in the park
are sambar, chital, hog deer, barking
deer, sloth deer, common leopard, ratel,
palm civet, wild dog, langur and rhesus
monkeys.
There
are over 450 species of birds in
the park. Among the endangered birds
are the Bengal florican, giant hornbill,
lesser florican, black stork and white
stork. A few of the common birds seen
are peafowl, red jungle fowl, and different
species of egrets, herons, kingfishers,
flycatchers and woodpeckers. The
best times for bird watching are in
March and December.
More
than 45 species of amphibians and
reptiles are found in the park,
some of which are themarsh mugger crocodile,
cobra, green pit viper and various species
of frogs and tortoises. The park is
actively engaged in the scientific study
of several species of wild flora and
fauna.
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PLACES
OF INTEREST
Places
of Interest in Chitwan National Park
Place Distance In Km. From Kasar
Darbar, Park HQ.
Gharial Breeding Center, Kasara 1
Lamital 2.5
Devital 25
Bikram Baba (religious site) 1
Chitwan Hatisar, Sauraha 19
Elephant Breeding Center 3 (from Sauraha)
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