Chitwan National Park

Chitwan National Park

Chitwan, at the foot of the Himalayas, is one of the few remaining intact vestiges of the Terai region, which once stretched along the foothills of India and Nepal. The park is home to one of the last populations of the single-horned Asiatic Rhinoceros, and is also one of the last refuges of the Bengal Tiger. The Chitwan National Park, which was established in 1973, was Nepal's first National Park, and was granted World Heritage Site status in 1984. The river system Narayani-Rapti forms the natural boundary of the human settlements in the north and west of the protected area. To the east of Chitwan National Park is Parsa National Park and to the south is Valmiki National Park, the Indian Tiger Reserve. The 2,075 km2 contiguous protected area is the Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki Tiger Conservation Unit, which comprises a vast 3,549 km2 block of large alluvial grasslands and subtropical humid deciduous forests. The park is home to a wide range of flora and fauna, with more than 700 species of wildlife and species of butterflies, moths and insects that have not yet been completely surveyed. In addition to the King Cobra and the Rock Python, there are 17 other species of snakes, as well as Star Tortoise and Monitor Lizards. The area is extremely rich in bird species too, with 543 species recorded in 2006, far more than any other protected area in Nepal, around two-thirds of Nepal's globally threatened species live here. Chitwan National Park is also home to 68 species of mammals, including Sloth Bears, Indian Leopards, Smooth-Coated Otters, Bengal Foxes, Spotted Linsangs, Honey Badgers and many more.