Wildlife - Tour in Dudhwa National Park

Location : Indo-Nepal Border.

Area : 500 sq km.

Headquarters : Lakhimpur (Kheri), UP, India.

Best Time to visit : November to May.

Access : Road : Drive from Delhi (8-9 hours) Rail : Dudwa (4 km.), Palia (10 km.), Mailani (37 km.) Airport: Lucknow, Dhangarhi (Nepal, 35 km.)

Temperature(deg C) : Max Min Summer : 40°C 20°C Winter : 30°C 4°C

Introduction : Situated along the Indo-Nepal border in Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, Dudhwa National Park is a well known park, covering an area of about 500 sq km, is famous for its swamp deer (barasingha) and tiger. The name of ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh, one of India’s leading conservationists, is associated with the park as his efforts made Dudhwa come up as a sanctuary of the Swamp Deer. Later he successfully hand-reared and re-introduced zoo-born Tigers and Leopards into the wilds of Dudhwa. In the mid 1980s, Indian Rhinoceros was reintroduced into Dudhwa from Assam and Nepal.

Wildlife Species : The Dudhwa National Park has wildlife species like the - swamp deer (barasingha), tigers,leopards, Indian one-horned rhinoceros, wild elephant,jungle cats, leopard cats, fishing cats, jackals, civets, sloth bears, sambar, otters, crocodiles, chital, four-horned antelope, nilgai,porcupine, blackbuck, pythons and monitor lizards. For bird watchers a large number of bird species can also be seen here with owls and storks found in large numbers. Other birds seen here are the swamp partridge, slaty-backed woodpecker and bengal florican.

Vegetation : The grasslands and woodlands of Dudhwa National Park, consist mainly of sal forests, tall termite mounds, patches of riverine forests and large open grasslands. Its lakes offer excellent opportunities for observing Swamp Deer and birds from ‘machans’.

Safaris inside the park : One can either take the elephant or motor rides which are provided inside the park for spotting the animals.