Bandhavgarh
National Park
(Madhya-Pradesh)
National
Park, Small in size but with the highest known density of tiger population
in India.The Bandhavgarh National Park is located within the district
of Shahdol in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.It is Situated
at a distance of 195 km from Jabalpur and 225 km from Khajuraho. The
Bandhavgarh National Park is a premier wildlife preserve in the Vindhya
mountain range of Central India.Areas consists primarily of Sal(Shorea
robusta) forests, which is the main tree-cover found in the entire park.
Before becoming a national park, it was the game reserve of the Maharajas
of Rewa. It was finally declared a tiger reserve under Project Tiger
in 1993.
The White Tiger
The forests
of Bandhavgarh are the white tiger jungles. No white tigers have been
reported in the last 50 years, and it is believed that less than a dozen
have been seen in India in about a hundred years. And yet when white
tigers were sighted, it was right here in Bandhavgarh. In 1951, Maharaja
Martand Singh of Rewa captured an orphaned white tiger cub from the
Bagri forest in Bandhavgarh. The Maharaja domesticated this male white
tiger and named him Mohan. Mohan was the last white tiger in the wild,
and no white tiger has been reported ever since.
Flora:
Sal (Shorea robusta) trees dominate almost half the forest of Bandhavgarh.
The sal tree is an important component of the deciduous forests of North
and Central India.
Fauna:
Mammals
The Bandhavgarh
National Park has least 22 species of mammals. Tigers, leopards, gaur
(Indian Bison-although some say this is no longer seen), chital (spotted
deer), Sambar deer, holes, nilgais, wild boars, chinkaras, sloth bears,
rhesus macaques, black faced langurs, jungle cats,hyenas, porcupines,
jackals, foxes, wild dogs, chausinghas and ratels, among others. It
is the density of it's big cat population that has made Bandhavgarh
really famous across the globe.
Birds
It has
about 250 species of birds in the Park. White browed fantails, steppe
eagles, green pigeons, grey malabar hornbills, black and white malabar
hornbills (quite a rare sighting), blossom headed parakeets, parakeets,
blue bearded bee eaters, green bee eaters, white bellied drongos, owls,
Jerdon's and gold fronted leaf birds, minivets, woodshrikes and the
lovely paradise flycatchers. Bandhavgarh is also a bird lover's paradise.
Best
Time to Visit: November to June. The Park is closed from 1st July
to 31st October.
Transport
Information: The most convenient route to Bandhavgarh is by air
to Khajuraho from where it is 5 hours drive (237 km). The nearest railway
stations near Bandhavgarh are Jabalpur (164 km), Katni (102 km) and
Satna (120 km) on the Central Railway and Umaria ( 35 km ) on the south
Eastern Railway. Taxis are available at Satna, Jabalpur, Katni, Umaria,
Bilaspur ( 300 km) and Khajuraho
