Nagarhole National Park

Established in 1955 and made into a national park in 1988, Nagarhole National Park is also known as Rajiv Gandhi National Park. The park stretches over 643 square kilometres between the Coorg and Mysore districts in the southern state of Karnataka and forms a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The Park is currently being considered by UNESCO for selection as a World Heritage Site. It is also known as Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. The major animals found here include elephants, tigers and Indian bisons. Other mammals in the Park include the common langur, bonnet macaque, jungle cat, slender loris, leopard, civet cat, mongoose, common otter, giant flying squirrel, porcupine, jackal, mouse-deer, hare and pangolin. The Park also has a wide variety of birds and amphibians. Technically it is Rajiv Gandhi National Park, but the old name is still used more often than not. About 90 km West of Mysore, Nagarhole National Park was once the hunting grounds of the Mysore Maharajas and is part of the 6000 sq km Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. It is spread over nearly 650 sq km and is among the best managed in the country. It has among the densest vegetation and wildlife population and is known for its tiger sightings.
The forest itself is quite picturesque with hills, valleys and streams, and is also home to elephants and gaur apart from leopards, sambar and other mammals, birds and reptiles. The park can be visited throughout the year but sightings are good between October to May. The park gets its name from the combination of two Kannada words, 'naga' meaning snake and 'hole' meaning streams. True to its name, quite a few serpentine streams fork through the rich tropical forests of the park. The land is one of gentle slopes and shallow valleys. Dry forest trees are found without leaves in the summer rather than in the winter, as it usually happens. There are grassy swamps where the soil is clayey, perennially moist which support a luxuriant growth of green grass all year round. The main trees found here are the commercially important rosewood, teak, sandalwood and silver oak. Species of trees of the dry forest include crocodile bark, lagerstroemia lanceolata, grewiatilaefolia, Indian kino tree, rosewood and axlewood. Other tree species that are seen in the forests are lagerstroemia microcarpa (crepe myrtle), schleicheratrijuga, kadam, cotton tree and some species of ficus. The best time to visit Nagarhole National Park is from October to May. The park usually remains closed during monsoon season (June to September). The Nagarhole National Park entry fee is INR 50 for Indians and INR 150 for foreign nationals.