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Uttar Pradesh Dudhwa Katerniaghat Tiger Reserve
Location | Lakhimpur Kheri District, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Nearest city | Pilibhit |
Area | 490 square kilometres (190 sq mi) |
Established | 1977 |
Governing body | Uttar Pradesh Forest Department |
Summer Temperature | 45 °C (113 °F) |
Winter Temperature | 9 °C (48 °F) |
Weather |
Located in India’s Uttar Pradesh state prominent Dudhwa Tiger Reserve houses the Dudhwa National Park besides Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and famous Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary under its periphery. It developed identity as one of the 41 tiger projects of India with its inception.
Combining three protected areas was aimed at offering best comfortable atmosphere to the Royal Bengal Tigers in UP state for which joint efforts were done to develop Dudhwa Tiger Reserve as part of the tiger project by government. The selection of 204 sq kilometer Kishanpur in 1972 was due to it being the oldest one. The rest two that became part of the Wildlife Sanctuary were 440 sq kilometer area of Katerniaghat joined in 1975 and the third and last one named Dudhwa National Park whose inclusion in 1977 added 680 sq kilometer more area.
All three tiger reserves have their autonomous identity even after joined together due to physical separation though few unbroken tracts and densely forests mix them. They have ample flora and fauna production means because of unique terai ecosystem availability that guarantees for excellent habitats production. The place is known well for the presence of large scale species especially the rare ones.
Equally is it known for the largest forestry and plants in entire North Indian region for having moist types of Sal forests or Shorea robusta which aren’t easily available in rest parts of the country? Unique moist grasslands are other important attributes one finds in the whole region here.
Several rare animals including one-horned Rhino are now available in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. As the visitors are prohibited to visit the area inhabited by the rhinos yet one can’t see them till now.
History
Terai, warm and tropical forest of Dudhwa National Park offers seething look in its entire 811 sq kilometer area, though the core is 648 sq kilometers area only. Its location in Himalayan foothills is compelling indeed. The area is typical due to it being surrounded by the Nepal border in one side while the Suheli river in the other. Some of the major attributes include the thick Sal forests of this park and so are notable widespread grasslands besides wet marshes that attract attention of large number of wildlife animals especially tigers, swamp deer or barasingha and others from elephant to jackal to sloth bear and leopard cat et al. A few jungle cats, civets, fishing cats and good collection of birds bring it under notice. Bird lovers and those like to watch them literally feel at home in Dudhwa once see birds there. Some of them include painted storks, sarus cranes, owls, barbets, woodpeckers, minivets and others. A few of these birds are rare species. Take for example Bengal florican that is a rarity here but can be seen.
A key attraction here is the famous Indian one-horned rhino that had literally been hunted out in the 19th century itself but it was preserved and seen in Dudhwa. It has been brought from rest Indian and Nepalese sanctuaries though. This rare animal had been brought in this place decades ago in 1985 and since then they have increased in numbers.
The ecology of Dudhwa Park got disturbed in the recent times due to illegal poaching and encroachment that damaged it much. It caused slowing down of the Swamp deer population. Fortunately its number has increased recently as surveys define.
Weather And Best Time To Visit
The extreme climatic pattern is common in Dudhwa which is witnessed in the rest north Indian regions. This area observes extremely hot summers which often go up to 40 °C or more. Average wintertime temperature is from 20 to 30 °C in daytime but chilling time is in night or mornings.
Best Time To Visit
The most suitable time to arrive at Dudhwa is from November to months. Although this part usually opens from November to June months but visitors feel too much hotness during the summer time hence avoid arriving then.
Place To Visit
Typical Frog Temple located at Oyal in the route to Dudhwa is an attraction and sought after too. The erstwhile Oyal maharajs had built it that is still unique and distinguished in the country hence its location in Lakhimpur-Kheri district is worth appealing. With dedication to the Lord Shiva, design of this temple us rare with a large sized frog shaped stone is used to develop it. Distance between this temple and Lakhimpur-Kheri as well as Dudhwa is mere 10 kilometers.
Prominent landmarks in the region are palaces in Terai region especially the Surat Bhawan Palace that was built by the Singhai state rulers in typical Indo-Saracenic styles. It is very close to the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve located on the Lakhimpur-Nighasan-Dudhwa route and is surrounded by ample greeneries. Its nine-acre area is truly mesmerizing. The key attractions are lush lawns, swimming pool and highly enchanting fountains that showcase unique architectural appeal.
How To Reach
By Air
Lucknow is the nearest airport which links prominent Indian cities with it especially Delhi and Mumbai cities through flights on regular intervals.
By Rail
Dudhwa is the nearest railway station at 4 kilometers only. Other stations Palia and Mailani are at a distance of 10 and 37 kilometers respectively. Connection of Mailani with Nainital from Lucknow through Dudhwa on northeastern Railway meter gauge is seething indeed.
By Road
Both private and UPSRTC buses run to connect Palia with Lakhimpur Kheri, Shahjahanpur and Bareilly besides capital Delhi. There are frequent bus service between Palia and Dudhwa though.
Important road distances are Lucknow - 238 km, Bareilly - 260 km, Delhi - 430 km, Palia - 5 km.
Local Transport
Hire jeeps or coaches for local transportation to reach up to the national park’s headquarters at Dudhwa and or to visit park. Dudhwa has wildlife elephants that can be viewed commonly.
Flora And Fauna
Flora
A complete north Indian moist type forestry and greenery this area contains several rare Sal forest collections from Shorea robusta found in the country. In fact such widespread moist grassland tracts appeal people to visit here over and again.
Fauna
Some of the prominent faunas especially tigers, leopards, Swamp deers, rhinoceros, cheetah, hog deer, barking deer, sambar, wild boars and ratel et al are found abundantly in the region besides approximately 400 bird species as well as fish species numbering 90 or more.
Some of the major faunas beside good number of tigers from Panthera tigris to and Leopard include ample number of Swamp deer subspecies especially Barasingha or Cervus duvauceli duvauceli. Equally are enough Indian origin one-horned rhinoceros that had been brought here during 1984. A few highly endangered rare species also make part of the fauna that include Bengal Florican or Houbaropsis bengalensis and rest are Hispid Hare or Caprolagus hispidus making unique Dudhwa collection.
Wildlife
Collection of wildlife animals include tigers, monitor lizard, turtles, python, rhesus monkey, rhinoceros ,elephants, cheetal, hog deer, kakar, wild pig, blue bull, swamp deer, sambar, Langur, sloth bear, porcupine, otter, mugger and gharial amongst others.
This reserve has good collection of 450 bird species itself out of approximately 1300 found in whole subcontinent. A few of the birds include hornbill, woodpeckers, red jungle fowl, pea fowl, fishing eagle, serpent eagle, Bengal florican, osprey, shama, Indian pitta, paradise flycatcher and orioles besides emerald dove and similar such groups. Countless migratory birds arrive here in the wintertime that cause dried water bodies making it suitable for the birds to arrive in the reserve.
Timings
The Park can be visited from 6:00 am until 6:00 pm in the evening.
Where To Stay
Several accommodation centers are available inside the park which the forest department uses to rent out for accommodation. A few rest houses inside the forest besides Swiss cottage tents, Tharu huts are make good options to stay inside Dudhwa, Sathiana, Bankatti, Sonaripur and Kila areas. The arrangement makes best accommodation option as wonderful facility to stay near Dudhwa Tiger Reserve area.
General Information
- Entry fee for the park is Rs. 50 while vehicle entry is charged at Rs. 150.
- The park remains open from 7 to 10 AM and 3 to 6 PM every day.
- Elephant safari charges are Rs. 100 per head for about 3 hours.
- The entry permit to the park can be obtained from the director's office at Lakhimpur Kheri.
Location Map
Photo Gallery