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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.
How to Get there
Air : There are daily flights from Kathmandu to
Bharatpur.
Road : Chitwan is easily accessible from Kathmandu
being well connected by national highway to Bharatpur and
Saurana.
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