Chitwan National Park

Chitwan National Park is considered the third most important tourist attraction in Nepal after the Himalayas and Kathmandu Valley. Known for the beauty of snow-capped mountains, the country boasts of one of the best national parks in Asia, located on the plains. It is one of the few places in the world where you can still see the Bengal tiger and Indian rhino in the wild. To see the world of animals and birds, the richness of flora and fauna, there is no better place than Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

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Highlights

Chitwan National Park has an area of 932 km². Chitwan has a large number of scenic rivers and small lakes. The climate is flat, milder and warmer than other parts of Nepal.

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The jungle-covered Chitwan Valley has always been famous for its abundance of wild animals. For many hundreds of years, malarial swamps protected the animal world and minimized human encroachment into the area. Between 1846 and 1951, Nepal’s ruling Rana dynasty turned the area into hunting grounds. Members of the royal family and high-ranking dignitaries lived in comfortable lodges for weeks at a time, killing hundreds of tigers, rhinos, leopards and gubache bears. But the animals were rarely hunted, and the fines for poaching were quite serious (death for killing a rhinoceros).

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Until the late 1950s, the only inhabitants of the Chitwan Valley were the Tharu (a small ethnic group of Nepal) due to their natural immunity to malaria. In the 1950s, Nepal successfully implemented a malaria eradication program (the vectors of the disease, malaria mosquitoes, were eradicated with DDT). When the deadly disease was no longer a threat to human life, landless peasants from the mountainous regions of the country flocked to the Chitwan Valley. After a while, vast tracts of forest were cleared for agriculture. As the habitat disappeared, so did the inhabitants. By the mid-1960s, there were fewer than 100 rhinos and 20 tigers in the area.

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To prevent the animals from becoming completely extinct, King Mahendra declared Chitwan a royal reserve in 1973 and later turned it into Nepal’s first national park. 22,000 farmers were relocated from outside the park and Nepal Army soldiers were brought in to fight poaching, after which the animal population gradually began to recover.

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In 1984, the park was listed as a UNESCO site.

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Attractions of Chitwan National Park

The most famous attraction of the national park is the Indian rhinoceros, which has been preserved only in Nepal and India to date. Chitwan is an ideal habitat for these animals, which are in danger of total extinction. There are less than 3,000 Indian rhinos left to live in the wild, most of which are found in the Indian state of Assam. They are the largest animal in Asia after the elephant, with some individuals weighing up to 2.5 tons and their thick hide difficult to penetrate even with a bullet. Despite the protection of these animals by soldiers of the Nepalese army and severe punishment for harming them, the problem of poaching is still acute due to the high value of various organs of this animal on the black market. After killing a rhino and escaping prosecution, a poor Nepalese peasant immediately becomes a wealthy man. A kilogram of horn is valued at about 10,000 US dollars and is believed to have miraculous powers. The horns of this animal are believed to enhance sexual feelings, the droppings serve as a laxative, the urine cures tuberculosis and asthma, the blood helps to get rid of menstrual problems, the skin of the animal scares away evil spirits and so on. A few decades ago, their number was reduced to less than 100, but since the organization of the national park, the population of these rare animals has managed to increase to 400 units. The park is one of the few places in the world where they roam in relative safety.

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Most visitors hope to see tigers, but luck smiles on few. Like most large carnivores, tigers sleep nearly 18 hours a day. Their nocturnal walks are hidden from humans, so seeing these animals is considered great luck. To date, approximately 100 Bengal tigers roam the national park.

British King George V along with his son Edward VIII visited Chitwan in 1911 and killed 39 tigers and 18 rhinos in a hunt. In 1939, Governor General of India Victor Hope visited the then Prime Minister of Nepal Bahadur Rana. The noble dignitaries went hunting in the royal reserve of Chitwan, and over the course of 20 days of hunting killed 120 tigers, 38 rhinos, 25 leopards and 15 bears. Back in the early 20th century, an estimated 100,000 tigers lived in the wild throughout much of Asia. Over-hunting, driven by demand for hides, had disastrous consequences. Today, a few thousand tigers remain, living in 7 percent of their original range. Hunting of tigers is banned worldwide but they are not in danger of extinction as about 20,000 of these animals live in zoos around the world.

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Most popular tours in Chitwan

Elephant ride

Of Nepal’s 14 national parks and reserves, Chitwan is the most popular wildlife travel destination. For about $15 USD, and the elephants in the park’s care will take you on an hour and a half long jungle trip. Elephant tours are conducted twice a day – in the morning and at four in the afternoon. There are long queues during the peak tourist season. Owners of expensive cottages within the park have their own elephants and offer tours to their clients. Private elephant owners offer cheap tours outside the national park, but the chances of seeing wild animals are slim.

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Jeep safaris

Jeep safari tours are very popular. They last approximately four hours and explore remote areas of the national park.

Canoeing on the Rapti River

Tourists are offered a canoe tour on the Rapti River, with the opportunity to see marsh crocodiles and gavial, a rare species of crocodile. Chitwan has more than 400 species of birds and the canoe trip is especially appealing to bird lovers. Tourists canoe down the river for an hour and then walk back with a guide.

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Brief information about the national park

  • Chitwan National Park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the importance of its biodiversity.
  • Indian rhinos and Bengal tigers are the most famous animals in the park. Seeing a Bengal tiger during a safari excursion is considered a great fortune.
  • The park is home to about 50 species of mammals (wild boars, bears, deer, monkeys, antelopes) and over 400 species of birds – one of the best places in the world for bird watching.
  • Chitwan’s most expensive cottages are within the national park. They have a swimming pool, cocktail bars, their own elephants, organize wildlife tours, and all that other stuff, while having no electricity or hot water. Cheap hotels are located next to the national park in a village called Sauraha.
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  • It is recommended to visit the elephant rearing village, crocodile farm within the park.
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When to go

The best time to visit the park is from October to March. From April to early June, the heat starts, and during the monsoon season (June to mid-September) it rains for two to three hours a day. Most cottages are closed during the rainy season. Provided the weather is cloudless, there is a beautiful panorama of the surrounding Himalayan valley (pictured).

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There is also an elephant festival at the end of each year. The most interesting events of the festival are the elephant races and the elephant soccer team match.

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How to get there

There are three ways to get to Chitwan National Park:

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  • Daily scheduled flights from Kathmandu to Bharatpur (Bharatpur city is located about 25 km from the park area). The flight lasts for about half an hour.
  • By buses from Kathmandu or Pokhara. The trip takes about seven hours from Kathmandu, six from Pokhara.
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  • Travel agencies on Thamel Street in Kathmandu can organize a rafting trip to the park. A cruise on the Trisuli River usually starts from the town of Mugling, 110 km from Kathmandu, and lasts for two to three days.