Chitwan National Park

Chitwan National Park is the first national park in Nepal. It was created in 1973 and became a World Heritage Site in 1984. The park is very big, covering 952.63 km² in the Terai region of south-central Nepal.

The land in Chitwan goes from about 100 meters high in the river valleys up to 815 meters in the Sivalik Hills. This special area helps protect many plants and animals, which is important for nature lovers and scientists everywhere.

History

Chitwan National Park was Nepal's first national park. Long ago, people often went there to hunt in the winter. By the 1950s, many people moved into the area. This caused some forests and animals to disappear. To help protect the animals, especially the rhinos, the park was created in 1973.

The park has grown over time to its current size of 952.63 km². It became a World Heritage Site in 1984, helping to protect the wildlife and natural beauty of the area.

Geography

Chitwan National Park covers 952.63 km² (367.81 sq mi) in the Terai region of southern Nepal. The park stretches from about 100 m (330 ft) in the river valleys up to 815 m (2,674 ft) in the Sivalik Hills. It includes parts of the Nawalpur, Chitwan, Makwanpur, and Parsa Districts. The Narayani-Rapti river system forms a natural boundary to human settlements in the north and west.

Next to the park, you’ll find Parsa National Park to the east and Valmiki National Park in India to the south. Together, these areas make up a large protected space of 2,075 km² (801 sq mi), which is important for protecting tigers and other wildlife. This area is known as the Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki and includes grasslands and forests.

The park has a humid subtropical climate, with warm, wet months from mid-June to late September. Most of the rain falls during this time. After the rainy season, the weather becomes cooler and drier, with temperatures dropping to around 18 °C (64 °F) during the day and 5 °C (41 °F) at night.

Vegetation

The Inner Terai area of Chitwan National Park has many types of plants. About 70% of the park is covered with Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, mostly filled with tall sal trees. These trees grow best in low, dry land in the middle of the park. Along the southern slopes of the Churia Hills, you can find sal trees mixed with chir pine (Pinus roxburghii). On the north slopes, sal trees grow together with smaller flowering trees and bushes like beleric (Terminalia bellirica), rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo), and axlewood (Anogeissus latifolia).

The park also has areas of tall grasses and bushes along the rivers. These places change often because of seasonal flooding and bushfires. You can find groups of catechu (Acacia catechu) trees and kapok (Bombax ceiba) trees, which rhinos enjoy eating. Smaller plants like velvety beautyberry (Callicarpa macrophylla) and gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica) give shelter to many animals.

About 20% of the park is covered with Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands. These areas have over 50 kinds of plants, including some of the tallest grasses in the world, like Saccharum ravennae. There are also giant cane (Arundo donax) and khagra reed (Phragmites karka), along with many types of true grasses. Kans grass (Saccharum spontaneum) is one of the first plants to grow on new sandbanks, but it gets washed away each year during the rainy season.

Fauna

The plants in Chitwan National Park give home to over 700 kinds of animals and many insects. You can see snakes such as the king cobra and rock python. There are also star tortoises, monitor lizards, and many types of fish and crocodiles in the rivers and lakes.

The park has many mammals, including the famous Bengal tiger. It is a great place for tigers to live, and their numbers have grown. Other animals include Indian leopards, sloth bears, smooth-coated otters, Bengal foxes, and many kinds of deer. The park also protects a large group of Indian rhinoceros. There are birds too, with over 500 different kinds seen in the park. Some of these birds are special and rare, making the park important for bird watchers.

Main article: Bengal tiger

Literature

Bird Conservation Nepal published a book in 2006 called Birds of Chitwan. The book lists 543 kinds of birds that live in the park. It worked with Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

In 1996, two experts named Gurung and Singh wrote a guide called Field Guide to the Mammals of the Indian Subcontinent. The guide helps people learn about mammals in that area. The guide was published by Academic Press in San Diego.