Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (formerly known as Anamali Wildlife Sanctuary) is located south of the Anamalai Hills extending to the Pollachi, Vaalparaai and Udumalpet taluks in Coimbatore district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India. The park is named after Indira Gandhi, the late prime minister of India, who paid a visit to the area in 1961. The park, which was set up in 1976, is also called ‘Topslip’, a village in the park and also its main visitor centre. The name ‘Topslip’ has come from the old local practice of rolling down teak timber logs from over the hills. The park is spread over an area of 958 square kilometers and is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. The park features various water bodies like Konalar, Varagaliar, Karuneerar, Chinnar and Amaravathi and reservoirs like Sholayar, Aliyar, Amaravathi, Kadambarai and others. The park is also home to various tribal communities like Malasar, Muduvar, Pulayar, Eravalar who contribute towards preserving the forest. The sanctuary, along with the Palni Hills form the Annamalai Conservation Area. Indira GandhiNational Park is an elephant sanctuary and was declared a Project Tiger sanctuary in 2008. The Government of India’s ministry of environment and forest and Tamil Nadu forest department look after the park’s administration.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is located at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. It has Kerala in the west, Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Pondicherry in the north and Karnataka in the north-west. Bay of Bengal lies to its east and Indian Ocean in the south. The island nation of Sri Lanka lies off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has an area of 1,30,358 square kilometers. Chennai is the state capital.

Climate

The climate of Tamil Nadu ranges between dry sub-humid to semi-arid. The state is heavily dependent on monsoon rains and hence can be hit by droughts when monsoon fails.

Geography of Indira Gandhi National Park

The sanctuary/park which is covered by large tracts of forest has an elevation between 285-2,280 metres above the sea-level. Mean annual rainfall in the park varies between 500 mm in the south-west to 4,500 mm in the north-east. The park has 12 major peaks like Akkamalai (2,483 metres). The climate here reaches a maximum of 27 degree Celsius during summer and minimum of 2 degree Celsius during winter.

Flora

The park features flora types that is typically found in the South-Western Ghats. The diverse terrain and rainfall support a rich vegetation growth here. Over 2,000 plant species are found here of which about 400 are medicinal in nature. The park has tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forest, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, tropical montane, thorn forests and grasslands. Tropical wet evergreen forest is found at the altitude between 600-1,600 metres while tropical montane forests are found at higher elevation and are interspersed with montane grasslands.

Dipterocarpus indicus, Dipterocarpus bourdilloni, Strombosia ceylanica and Ochlandra reeds are the trees found at low elevations. At medium elevations, Cullenia exarillata, Mesua ferrea, Palaquium ellipticum are the predominant flora types. The moist deciduous forest mainly comprises Lagerstroemia microcarpa, Tectona grandis and Dillenia pentagyna while the dry deciduous forest is marked by Albizia amara, Acacia sp. and Gyrocarpus jacquini. Hopea parviflora, Vateria indica, Mesua ferrea, Cullenia excels, Alstonia scholaris, Calophyllum tomentosum, Mangifera indica, Podocarpus wallichianus Machilus macrantha, Evodia meliaefolia, Ailanthus, Malabaricum and Eucalyptus grandis are common tree types found in this forest area. Teak, cinchona, rubber, bamboo, coffee and tea plants can be found in various parts of the sanctuary.

Fauna

Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a great many fauna species, some of which falling under the ‘threatened’ tag. Tiger, elephant, Asiatic wild dog, lion-tailed macaque, brown mongoose, Malabar spiny Dormouse, rusty-spotted cat, sloth bear, sambar deer, smooth-coated otter, Nilgiri langur are some of the animals found in the park. Asian elephant and the Nilgiri tahr are two major attractions of this park. Besides, the giant squirrel, Indian leopard and Indian pangolin fall among the near-threatened mammals. This apart, golden jackal, barking deer, wild boar, bonnet macaque, Asian palm civet, Small Indian civet, Strip-necked mongoose, Ruddy mongoose, Grey slender loris, Indian crested porcupine, Indian giant squirrel, three-striped palm squirrel are spotted in Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. Reptiles like frogs, pythons, vipers, kraits, vipers, grass snakes, flying lizards, forest lizards, turtles, tortoises are also seen here. There are also over 300 butterfly species in Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park.

Avifauna

The park is home to over 200 bird species (of which 16 are endemic to the Western Ghats)  Gandhi including cormorants, teals, darters, quails, jungle fowls, Indian peafowls, parakeets, harriers, orioles, shrikes, warbler, woodpecker, falcons, kites, egrets, kingfishers, storks, hawk eagles, owls and nightjars. Nilgiri wood pigeon, Ceylon frogmouth, Pied hornbill, White-bellied shortwing, Nilgiri pipit are some of the rare birds found here. The endemic species include Wynaad laughingthrush, India rufous babblers, white-bellied treepies and grey-headed bulbul. The main birding zone in the park is at Top Slip.

Other attractions

• Parmbikulam Wildlife Sanctuary
• Manjampatti Valley
• Eravikulam National Park in Kerala
• Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

Time to visit

The The ideal time to visit the park is between May to June and October to February.

Reaching Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park

By air
Coimbatore is the nearest airport at a distance of 75 km.

By rail
Pollachi is the nearest railway station. Pollachi is connected with Coimbatore and Dindigul by railway.

By road
Pollachi (the range headquarters) is the nearest town to the park. It can be reached from Coimbatore (40 km). One can collect the visitor’s permit and then travel by road to Top Slip (35 km) which is the entry point to the park, Udumalpet (40 km) or Vaalparai (65 km). Regular bus service operates between Coimbatore and Pollachi. Cars/taxis are also available from Pollachi. Chennai is 532 km from Coimbatore.

Accommodation

• Forest Rest Houses at Topslip Varagaliar, Amaravathi and Sethumadai
• Ambuli Illam Guesthouse, at Topslip
• Mt. Stuart Resthouse
• Public Works Department (PWD) rest houses at Udumalpet and Amaravathi
• Electricity Board (TNEB) rest house at Attakatti. Accommodation is usually limited to only one or two nights at a location
• Hotels at Coimbatore like Hotel Vaidurya, Hotel Alankar, Park Inn Hotel, Sakthi Hotel, Surya International, Hotel Rathna Residency, Hotel Sri Lakshmi

For visitor Information

Contact

The Wildlife Warden
Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary,
178, Meenkarai Road,
Pollachi – 642 001.
Tel: 04259 222-5356

Dudhwa National Park is located on the terai plains at the foothills of the Himalayas in the Indo-Nepal border in Lakhimpur Kheri district, the largest in terms of area in Uttar Pradesh. River Suheli flows in the southern part of the park. The reserve at an altitude of 150-183 metres above the sea level, covers an area of 490 square kilometres (with a buffer zone of 124 square kilometres). Dudhwa was set up in as a wildlife sanctuary in 1958, as a national park in 1977 and adopted the Tiger Project in 1988.  The veteran hunter-turned-conservationist Lieutenant Kunwar Kunwar ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh had played a leading role behind setting up of the Dudhwa as a sanctuary of the swamp deer. Later, he also played an instrumental role in re-introducing hand-reared tiger in the wilds of the park.

Background

The terai forest region of Dudhwa fell prey to the local encroachers in the period after independence. The proximity of the Indo-Nepal border also made it highly vulnerable to the poachers and animal product smugglers who sold their products across the border. However, it was Arjan Singh who almost single-handedly succeeded to establish the reserve here. He even took the effort to convince the late prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi to declare Dudhwa as a national park in 1977. In 1984-85, seven rhinos were brought at Dudhwa.

Dudhwa Tiger Reserve comprises Dudhwa National Park, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary (to the southwest of DNP) and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (to the east). Dudhwa is the only National Park/Tiger Reserve that is left in Uttar Pradesh after formation of Uttarakhand. Although, Dudhwa has never been promoted like the Corbett National Park that has kept its naturalness more intact. Poor road conditions and distance from Delhi (430kms) may also be some of the factors. Dudhwa is also known for the icon Tiger Conservationist Billy Arjan Singh.

Climate

Dudhwa experiences extreme type of climate with the summer temperature rising as far as 40 degree Celsius. In winter, the temperature hovers between 20 and 30 degree Celsius. Average annual rainfall is 1,600 mm.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is located in the northern part of India and is the most populous state. The area of Uttar Pradesh is 2,43,290 square kilometres and it is the fifth largest state in India. Uttar Pradesh has Nepal in the north, Uttarakhand in the northwest, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan in the west, Madhya Pradesh in the south, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in the south-east and Bihar in the east. Capital is Lucknow.

Flora at Dudhwa

The diverse terrain at Dudhwa supports a diverse flora and fauna at Dudhwa. The area is mainly marked by tropical semi-evergreen forest, tropical moist and dry deciduous forest and swampy lands. The forest area in Dudhwa National Park is mainly covered by Sal forests (some of the trees can grow over 70 feet tall), riverine trees and open mesophyllous grasslands (locally called ‘phantas’). Shorea robusta, Eugenia jambolana, Terminalis tomentosa, Adina cordifolia, Bombax malabaricum and Dalbergia sissoo are some of the commonly found tree species found here.

Fauna at Dudhwa

Dudhwa is famous for its swamp deer or the Barashingas  (the twelve-horned deer slightly smaller than sambar) and tigers. About half of the population of the remaining swamp deer on earth live at Dudhwa). Hog deer, Indian rhinoceros are other major attractions at the park. The rhino species were introduced in the park from Assam and Nepal. Hispid hare (earlier thought to be extinct but rediscovered later), sambar deer, sloth bear, elephant, Honey badger, jackal, jungle cat, cheetah, barking deer, spotted dear, civet, crocodiles, fishing cat are among the other animals that are visible at Dudhwa national park. In all, Dudhwa features 37 mammal and 16 reptile species.

Barasinghas

A deer species. Barasingha is endemic to India and Nepal. One of the notable features of this deer is its 12 antlers (some even have 20). The deer have mainly two races, categorised in terms of geographic locations. One is found in the swampy lands of the terai while the other in the hard surface of Madhya Pradesh. Yet another type is also found in Assam. Barashinghas attain a height of 52 inches and weigh around 170-180 kilograms. These animals feed during the morning time. September to April is.

Avifauna at Dudhwa

The park is also known for its rich birdlife. Over 350 species of birds are found here including Great Slaty Woodpecker, Bengal Florican or Bengal Bustard, Swamp Francolin, bulbuls, bee-eaters, storks (painted, black and white-necked), Saras cranes, woodpeckers, barbets, kingfishers, peafowls, partridges, bee-eaters, egrets, teal, orioles, owls and others.

Other attractions at Dudhwa

• Trip on the elephant ride to spot animals and birds in their own habitat
• Jeep safari in the park

Best time to visit Dudhwa National Park

Mid-November to mid-June is the ideal time to visit the park with February-April being the best time. The park remains closed from October to May.

How to reach Dudhwa

By air
Dudhwa can be reached from New Delhi and Lucknow airports. The Dhangadhi airport in Nepal is 37 kilometres from Dudhwa. Reaching Lucknow and then drive to Dudhwa is the most comfortable way.

By road
Dudhwa is 410 kilometres from New Delhi (via National Highway 24 connecting Delhi and Lucknow) and 240 kilometres from Lucknow. Nearest town to Dudhwa is Palia which is 10 kilometres away. State and private buses link Palia with shahjehanpur, Bareilly and New Delhi.

By rail
Nearest railway station is Dudhwa (4 kilometres) and Mailani (37 kilomtres) besides Palia. One can reach Dudhwa from Lucknow rail station which is connected with all parts of India. Shahjehanpur rail station is 3 hours drive from Dudhwa.

Other attractions near Dudhwa

• Banke Tal
  One of the lakes in Dudhwa where a large concentration of its avifauna population is found
• Frog Temple at Oyal
  The unique temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva
• Surat Bhavan Palace
  A famous palace of the Terai region
• Lucknow
  The historical city
• National Environment Science Camp
  Organised every year by Karavan Heritage and Nature Society from November to January
• Jaungle camping in luxury tents

Accommodation in Dudhwa

• Dudhwa Forest Resthouse (for booking, visit: http://www.indiawildlifesafari.com/dudhwa-national-park-resorts/forest-rest-house-dudhwa.html)
• Tharu Huts

Travel tips in Dudhwa National Park

• Entry Fee Rs. 50, Vehicle Entry Fee: Rs. 150.
• Park timings from 7-10 am and 3-6 pm.
• One should make it obligatory to visit Dudhwa Forest Office before starting his/her trip to the park for vital information about the park ranging from safaris to lodging can be received here.
• Dudhwa National Park is divided into nine ranges of which Sathiana, Bankati, Sonaripur, Salukhapur, Belrayan and Kila have accommodation facilities.
• Elephants can be hired from the office near the park gate or from Salukhapur Chowki. Fare is Rs. 100 per head for about 3 hours.
• All visitors require to have entry permit, which can be obtained from the director of the park, district headquarters, Lakhimpur Kheri.
• Tourists themselves have to arrange for vehicle for jungle trip.