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.
