The Green and Blue Planet Earth is home to numerous elegant animals. Each creature has its own role in this ecosystem. Chitwan National Park is simply a gift from Mother Nature to all of us. Chitwan National Park covers parts of Nawalpur, Parsa, Chitwan and Makwanpur districts of Nepal spanning over 952.63 sq km. A 20 minute flight from TIA will take you to Bharatpur Airport. Bharatpur airport and Chitwan national Park are just 5km apart. There are two entrances in Chitwan National park, Sauraha in the east and Meghauli village in the west. Chitwan national park has 68 species of mammals, 544 species of birds and 67 species of butterfly. Chitwan has many luxury hotels and resorts where safaris are available. You can either have elephant safari or jeep safari.
Found only in Indian sub-continent, Gharial is listed as a Critically Endangered creature on the IUCN Red List. A slender elongated snout crammed with ill-fitting teeth and a bulbous protuberance at the end of its snout makes Gharial very unique among all the Crocodile. Full grown male grow up to six meters whereas females grow up to four and half meters respectively. Breeding programs have been organized and baby gharials are released in different rivers.
Sloth Bear is a myrmecophagous bear species native to Indian sub-continent. ‘Bhalu’ is a common name for sloth Bear in Nepal, mainly feeds off fruits, Ants and Termites. It is also in the IUCN Red list of endangered animals. This is one of the rare animals to spot. These furry creatures breed during spring and early summer and give birth near the beginning of winter. Sloth bears usually travel in pairs although they are slow walkers. They are experts in climbing trees.
Chitwan National Park is one of the last asylums for endangered one-horned rhinoceros ‘Gaida’. It is also in the IUCN Red list of endangered animals. There are only 3000 of them and most of them shelter in Chitwan National park. One-Horned Rhinoceros inhabit the alluvial flood-plain vegetation of sub-tropical climates where water and green grass is available all year. It is the most commonly seen animal in the park.
The second largest land mammal Asian Elephant is called ‘hatti’ in Nepali language. The population of Asian elephants are only about 100-150 in number and some of them are domesticated for wildlife safaris. These wild giants travel between Nepal and India back and forth. Asian Elephants are very social, so they try to form bigger herd. Usually they travel in a herd of six to seven.
The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger is a resemblance of power, intelligence and beauty. At present time there are only 120 Royal Bengal Tiger in number. It is very difficult to spot tigers as they don’t travel much during daylight. Poaching and hunting was the main reason behind the decrease in the number of this beautiful animal. The government of Nepal aims at doubling the country's tiger population by 2022.
Gift from Mother nature herself to us, Chitwan is blessed with numerous beautiful wild living animals. To make their natural habitat safe for them, the government and many other organisations have put in major effort.
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