A Quick Guide To Dudhwa National Park Jungle Safari

The 212-square-kilometer Dudhwa National Park wildlife sanctuary was established in the 1960s to protect swamp deer. The area was designated a national park in 1977, with a core zone of 490 square kilometers (about half the area of San Antonio, Texas) and a buffer zone of 124 square kilometers (about half the area of Athens, Georgia). The park was added to Project Tiger in 1987, along with the 201-square-kilometer Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary. Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (400 sq km (about half the area of San Antonio, Texas)) was added to Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the first half of 2000.

Dudhwa Tiger Reserve now spans 1,230 square kilometers (about the area of San Antonio, Texas) in India’s Terai region, bordering Nepal, and includes one national park (Dudhwa National Park) and two wildlife sanctuaries (Kishanpur and Katarniaghat).

Dudhwa Tiger Reserve’s marshy grasslands are interspersed with rivers, shallow lakes, and swamps, creating a lush green landscape, and providing fresh water all year. (Top) Jhadi taal in Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary is a haven for many species, including (top) swamp deer. (Above) Elephant herds can be seen in Banke taal, which is located within Dudhwa National Park.

Dudhwa National Park Resort’s habitat consists primarily of densely forested with trees such as sal and teak interspersed with swamps, taals (shallow lakes), and grasslands known as phantasms. Its diverse ecosystems are home to tigers, sambars, cheetahs, hog deer, swamp deer, sloth bears, rhinoceroses, leopards, and elephants. It is also a birder’s paradise, with over 400 bird species ranging from owls and storks to six vultures, drongo, and hornbill species. Its location in the Himalayan foothills makes it a popular stop for migratory birds en route to distant destinations between November and March. The reserve is bordered by two river systems: the Sharada and its tributary, as well as the Geruwa, Suheli, and Mohana streams, which are tributaries of the Ghagra river. They assist in the formation of wetlands, dense forests, and grasslands, making this an excellent location for biodiversity.

Dudhwa was once a marshland and grassland hunting ground for the royals. Many of its grasslands have been cleared over time to make way for sugarcane cultivation. Billy Arjan Singh, a famous hunter-turned-conservationist, founded the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. He was a hunter who repented one day and became a conservationist, releasing a few zoo-born tigers and leopards into the wild.

Explore

Jungle Safari in Dudhwa first starts in Kishanpur after driving through freshly harvested sugarcane fields and bright yellow mustard fields. Majestic vultures, falcons, and other birds can be seen soaring high in the sky. There are also a lot of teams, pintails, jacanas, mallards, pochards, egrets, coots, and shovelers near water bodies. Orioles, barbets, and greater racket-tailed drongos are also mentioned by the naturalist. The sanctuary is well-known for its barasinghas (swamp deer) population, but this species is in decline due to overhunting and habitat loss.

Katarniaghat, a sanctuary bordering the Geruwa (a tributary of Nepal’s longest river, Karnali), is another part of Dudhwa. It has sal and teak forests, as well as numerous swamps and wetlands, making it an ideal habitat for gharials. You must hire a motorboat and travel downstream, past overhanging trees, Indian softshell turtles on rocks, and sandbars in the middle of the river with gharials sunning themselves, their distinctive snout and pot-like bump visible.

The reserve is also known for its abundant snake population, which includes banded kraits, Burmese rock pythons, yellow-spotted wolf snakes, and paradise flying snakes. You may spot an Indian rock python while gliding around a narrow inlet in the river. The Gangetic dolphin is also frequently seen here. The naturalist tells us that this is also the home of the elusive jungle cat, which he has seen several times here.

You may see more of the sanctuary’s diverse birdlife as you move forward through Jungle Safari in Dudhwa, lush vegetation lined with Jamun and silk-cotton trees, including greater adjutants, kingfishers, and paradise flycatchers.

The Indian rhino, also known as the greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis), was introduced to Dudhwa National Park in 1984-85 as part of the Rhino Rehabilitation project from Assam and Nepal. To spot the rhino, take an early morning safari from the park’s main gate through the jungle, along sal trees, thick undergrowth, and tall grasses. When you finally arrive at the savannah-like grasslands, you see a mother and calf rhino walking through the tall grasses before disappearing into the morning mist.