Dudhwa National Park:A lesser known gem in the Terai belt,an amazing spectacle of flora & fauna,abundantly rich in natural beauty & wildlife,offering unique experience in Jungle Safari

During our 5-day tour(13 to 17 July) to Gola Gokaran Nath,I & wife Anupama alongwith our relatives,paid a visit to the Dudhwa National Park located on the Indo-Nepal border of Lakhimpur distt. of Uttar Pradesh,India. It was an unplanned visit to the park made in haste without consulting the Official website 0f the Park.Sadly the Tiger Safari was closed till 15th November.Nevertheless we visited the Office Campus,took some photos & made note of the complete timetable of the Jungle safari activities as a preparation for our next visit to the Park.We had some excursion of the surrounding areas enjoying the lush greenery.Having saved some time, we decided to visit Dhangadi-the nearby border town of Nepal.I will describe the visit in my next blog for my valued lovely readers.

Some worth-knowing facts for the visitors of the Dudhwa National Park :

The Dudhwa National Park is a national park in the Terai belt of marshy grasslands in northern Uttar Pradesh, India. It stretches over an area of 490.3 km2 (189.3 sq mi), with a buffer zone of 190 km2 (73 sq mi) . It is part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the Kheri and Lakhimpur districts.The park is located on the Indo-Nepali border in the Lakhimpur Kheri District, and has buffers of reserved forest areas on the northern and southern sides. It represents one of the few remaining protected areas of the diverse and productive Terai ecosystem, supporting many endangered species, obligate species of tall wet grasslands and species of restricted distribution.The Park had 26,000 visitors in the year 2022 which speaks volumes of the popularity of the Dudhwa national Park.

History:

Dudhwa became a tiger reserve in 1979. The area was established in 1958 as a wildlife sanctuary for swamp deer. Thanks to the efforts of Billy Arjan Singh the area was notified as a national park in January 1977. In 1987, the park was declared a tiger reserve and brought under the purview of the ‘Project Tiger’. Together with the Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary it forms the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

Climate :

Like most of northern India, Dudhwa has an extreme humid subtropical with dry winters (CWa) type of climate. Summers are hot with temperatures rising up to 40 °C (104 °F). During winters from mid-October to mid-March, temperatures hover between 20 &30 °C (68& 86 °F). The months of February to April are ideal for visiting the park.

Prevalent winds are westerly. The hot wind Loo blows strongly from mid-April up to end of May. Monsoon starting in mid-June and lasting up to September accounts for 90% of the rainfall of 150 cm (59 in). Temperatures range from between a minimum of 9 °C (48 °F) in winter to a maximum of up to 45 °C (113 °F) in peak summer.

Habitat :

The area of the park falls within the Upper Gangetic plains and is a vast alluvial plain ranging in altitude from 150 m (490 ft) in the farthest southeast to 182 metres (597 ft) in the extreme north. The park’s mosaic of high forest interspersed with grasslands is characteristic of the Terai ecosystems in India and the area is, probably, the last prominent remnant of this type of ecosystem. The forests, especially the sal forests, have always been very dense and can be categorized into northern tropical semi-evergreen forest, northern Indian moist deciduous forest, tropical seasonal swamp forest and northern tropical dry deciduous forest. The main flora comprises sal, asna, shisham, jamun, gular, sehore and bahera. The grasslands comprise about 19% of the park. The wetlands constitute the third major habitat type and include the rivers, streams, lakes and marshes. While many of the major wetlands are perennial with some amount of surface moisture retained round the year, some dry up during hot summer.

The park is home to one of the finest forests in India, some of these trees are more than 150 years old and over 70 ft (21 m) tall.

Fauna:

Major attractions of Dudhwa National Park are the tigers (population 58 in 2014) and swamp deer (population over 1,600). Billy Arjan Singh successfully hand-reared and reintroduced zoo-born tigers and leopards into the wilds of Dudhwa. Some rare species inhabit the park. Hispid hare, earlier thought to have become extinct, was rediscovered here in 1984.In March, 1984 Indian rhinoceros was reintroduced into Dudhwa from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam and Nepal. The other animals to be seen here include swamp deer, sambar deer, barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, sloth bear, honey badger, jackal, Viverrinae, jungle cat, fishing cat and leopard cat.

Dudhwa National Park is a stronghold of the barasingha. Around half of the world’s barasinghas are present in Dudhwa National Park. Smaller than the sambar deer, the barasinghas have 12 antlers that collectively measure up to 100 cm (39 in). One can spot herd of these rare animals passing through open grasslands. These animals are smaller than sambar deer and weigh around 180 kg (400 lb). Due to their slightly woolly, dark brown to pale yellow cloak, the grasslands acts as the perfect camouflage.

Birds:

Dudhwa National Park has a rich bird life with over 350 species, including a range of migratory birds that reside here during the winter. It includes among others, painted storks, black and white necked storks,sarus cranes, woodpeckers, barbets, kingfishers, minivets, bee-eaters, bulbuls and varied birds of prey .There are also drongos, barbets, cormorants, ducks, geese, hornbills, bulbuls, teal, woodpeckers, heron, bee-eaters, minivets, kingfishers, egrets, orioles, painted storks, owls.

The marshlands are habitat for about 400 species of resident and migratory birds including the swamp francolin, great slaty woodpecker, Bengal florican, painted stork, sarus crane, several owl species, Asian barbets, woodpecker and minivets. Much of the park’s avian fauna is aquatic in nature and found around Dudhwa’s lakes such as Banke Tal. The white-rumped vulture and red-headed vulture, both Critically Endangered vulture species have been sighted in the park.

Landscape:

The Dudhwa National Park is made up of rivers, shallow lakes known as ‘taals’ which provide adequate supplies of fresh water to the park throughout the year. As a result, the area boasts of lush green forests that support the diverse ecosystem. The river Sharda River kisses the boundary of Kishanpur Wild Life Sanctuary close by, while Geruwa, Suheli and Mohana streams, all tributaries of the Ghagra river, flow through the Park. Some of the important shallow lakes are Bankey Taal, Kakraha Taal and Amraha. The land is fertile and the Park is surrounded by rich farmlands yielding 3 to 4 crops in a year. The encroaching agricultural land, along with a railway track which runs through the park can be seen a major threats to the park in the future. The only approach to the park is by a dual bridge across the river Sharda which works as a common one way bridge for road as well as the railway track. Once the new bridge, which under construction, is completed, the commercial traffic into the park will be affected further.

The forest is in the foot-hills of the Himalyas with the flat land covered by spreads of grasslands, swamps and dense forests of tall sal trees. The area is an extremely fertile vast alluvial plain. This mix of ecosystems plays a key role in sustaining a large number living species. The swamps and vast grasslands with tall, yellow grass provide a natural habitat for tigers, deers, rhino etc while dense forests support a variety of other animals and birds also.

Enjoying a joyride on a special heritage train through the Dudhwa National Park:

The nearest railheads to Dudhwa National Park are Dudhwa (4 kms), Palia (10 kms) and Mailani (37 kms), though the most convenient way would be to travel to Lucknow and then reach Dudhwa by road or train. Lucknow-Sitapur-Lakhimpur-Gola-Mailani-Palia-Dudhwa (NER) (270 km approx.)

Uttar Pradesh’s first joyride train on the 107 km-long meter-gauge route between Mailani (Lakhimpur Kheri) and Bichia (Bahraich) via Dudhwa Tiger Reserve was innauguated on 8/01/22. The heritage special train (05319\20) that is designed to run on over 100-year-old meter gauge railway line would runs thrice a week on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

“The train (05319) would depart from Bichia at 1:45pm and reach Mailani at 5:55pm. Similarly, the train (05320) would depart from Mailani at 7am and reach Bichia at 11:30am .The fare of the train is around Rs 265 for AC Coach & Rs 55/-for Sleeper

The wide glass windows of the Vistadome coaches enables passengers to enjoy the scenic view of the Dudhwa National Park to the maximum. The coaches have the capacity of 60 passengers with seats which can rotate up to 180 degrees and coaches are equipped with wi-fi connectivity, pantry, modular toilets, LED destination board, multitier luggage racks, CCTV cameras and appliances like microwave, coffee maker, refrigerator, bottle cooler etc, said the official.

Best time to visit the Dudhwa National Park :

Its open for the visitors from 15 Nov. to 15 Jun. but the ideal time to spot & explore some of the amazing animal life between Feb. & April. One can enjoy the Wildlife Safari. The best part of this National Park is the Jungle Safari. The park looks spectacular from Nov. to May.One can explore the National Park through the Jungle Safari. The other attracting feature of Dudhwa is the Bird Festival for which Visitors come from various parts of the country to visit the national park. This is the among the best destinations of India where one can spot Elephants, Tigers and Rhinos . Nearly nineteen percent of the park is covered with grasslands. The wetlands of the park highly dominated by lakes, streams, rivers and marshes.

Note :I am indebted to the Wikkipaedia for the invaluable information & some photos of the Dudhwa National Park which I am sharing here with my readers !Happy reading!