Situated
within the Koodogu (Coorg) and Mysore districts of Karnataka,
the sanctuary borders the Kerala State. It was originally
designated as a game sanctuary in 1955 that centered
on the Nagarhole settlement. The sanctuary was later
enlarged to its present size in 1974 by combining the
Mysore forests and Nagarhole Sanctuary. The Park has
a beautiful landscape of gentle slopes and shallow valleys.
The largest river draining the area in the south is
the Kabini, which was dammed in 1974. Other important
rivers include Lakshmana, Teentha and Nagarhole. There
are several perennial and seasonal streams and tanks,
all of which drain into the four major rivers.
Fauna
Animals
Four horned antelopa, sloth bear, civet cat, barking
deer, mouse deer, spotted deer, wild dog, elephant,
jackal, common langur, slender loris, bonnet macaque,
common mangoose, small Indian mangoose, striped-necked
mangoose, Otter, Pangoline, panther, wild pig, porcupine,
sambhar, giant squirrel, flying squirrel, malakar squirrel,
threestriped palm squirrel tiger. Birds Pea fowl, common
babbler, scinaitar babbler, bea eater, red whiskered
bulbul, red vented bulbul, little brown dove, ring dove,
spotted dove, crested hawk eagle, crested serpent eagle,
tawny eagle, malabar pied hornbill, malabar grey hornbill,
loriekeet, minivet, biyth's myna, Alexandrine parakeet,
blue winged parakeet, blossom-headed and rose ringed
parakeets, southern treepie, green imperial pigeon,
adjutant stork, balabar trogon, great Indian Warbler,
reed warbler, wood-peckers. Reptiles Common cobra, marsh
crocodile (in Kabini river) Krait, Monitor Lizard, rock
python, Indian python, bamboo viper, pit viper, Russell's
viper, several species of gecko, skink and agamid lizaards,
etc.
Flora
The
predominant vegetation in the Nagarhole National Park
is of southern tropical, moist, mixed deciduous type
with a substantial eastern portion intergrading into
dry deciduous type. The upper tree canpy is dominated
by Terminalia tomentosa is association with Tectonia
grandis, Dalbergia latifolia, Pterocarpus marsupium,
Lagerstroemia lanceolata, Anogeissus latifolia, Adina
cordifolia, Boambax malabaricum, Schleichera trijuga,
Ficus sp. and others. The lower canopy has Kydia calycina,
Emblica officinalis, Gmelina arborea etc. Several shrubs
belonging to Solanum, Desmodium and Helicteres sp. etc.
are abundantly found but weedy shrubs like Eupatorium
and Lantana now dominate.
Access The
major railhead closest to Nagarhole is Mysore, 80 km
away, with train connections to a large number of towns
and cities across peninsular India. Nanjangud, 55 km
away, also has trains coming to it, but they’re
fewer in number. Bangalore, with excellent air and rail
links to the rest of the country, is about 220 km from
Nagarhole, while the hillstation of Ooty is about 240
km from the park. Buses connect Nagarhole to Bangalore
(a ride of about 6 hours) and to a network of smaller
towns across Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala. Alternately,
you could hire a vehicle in one of the larger towns-
Bangalore is especially convenient- to get to Nagarhole.
Within the park, there’s ample scope for wildlife
watching. Jeeps can be taken for a drive through Nagarhole,
or you can go off on elephant safari- the best way,
in fact, to go deep into the jungle. Hiking is also
allowed through the park, although only in some areas
where there are fewer chances of encountering a hungry
tiger or a masth elephant! The lake is open for a slow
coracle ride or a swift motorboat skim.
Best time to visit Nagarhole
can be visited all through winter and through the pre-monsoon
half of the summer. The winter months from November-February
are exceedingly pleasant, and are the best time to go
if you don’t like being hot and sweaty. The summer,
on the other hand, though it may be pretty hot, is a
great time to see wildlife, including the tiger. The
dry, hot season (March-May) is the time when the animals
gather at the lake, allowing for great wildlife viewing.
The monsoons (June-September) are best avoided, as the
entire road network gets washed out, and leeches and
dense undergrowth proliferate in the forest.
Climate The
summer (March. May) temperature does not cross the 33°C
mark. The brief winter, which lasts from November to
January, has temperature plummeting to 14°C. Monsoon
is erratic, but it generally rains from June to September. |
