Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park

The Bandipur National Park is one of the most fascinating wild-life centers, established in 1930's by the Mysore Maharajahs. It  was once the Mysore Maharaja’s private hunting park. Later in 1941, it was expanded to adjoin the Rajiv Gandhi National Park (Nagarhole)in the northwest and Kerala's Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in the southwest and Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in the south which now together constitute the Niligiri Biosphere Reserve. 

Bandipur lies in the southern state of Karnataka. It stretches along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border and lies on the Mysore - Ooty highway and covers a forest area of 874.2 square kilometers and  780-1455 m above sea level. The temperature in Bandipur ranges between 10 degrees and 35 degrees centigrade. The park has an average annual rainfall of 1200mm. 

In 1973 Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary was designated as a tiger reserve. It became one of the sanctuaries selected across India for  Project Tiger Scheme by the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature.The project is designed to save the tiger and its natural habitat from potential dangers. In 1974, the Bandipur was declared as a National Park under the Wildlife Protection Act. 

The Bandipur National Park is covered with a mix of evergreen forests, variety of animal species and rivers. It mainly consists of medium sized hills with gentle slopes and shallow, heavily forested valleys with a remarkable variety of flora and fauna. 

The forest cover is very dense with vegetation like Teak, Honne, Tadasalu, Mathi, Nandi, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Bamboo, Nelli, Kooli, Kadu Tega, Dindalu, Bende, Randia and Flame of the Forest making up a major portion of the variety. 

Some of the main animal species found in the park are Tigers, Leopards, Elephants, Gaurs, Sambar, Chital, Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Black Napped Hare, Sloth Beer, Wild dog (Dhole), Langur, Bonnet Macaque, Indian Giant Red Squirrel, 4 Horned Antelope (Chausingha), Porcupines, Slender Loris, Jungle Cat, Leopard Cat, Rusty Spotted Cat, Small Indian Civet, Palm Civet, Common Otter, Wild Boar, Jackal, 4 varieties of Mongoose, Flying Squirrels, Pangolin, Giant Fruit Bats and Striped Hyenas.A lot of these species are seen close to the accommodation facilities available in the park. To get a closer view of the animals, one can book a 'Machan' near the watering hole.