Chitwan National Park

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Photo Albums » Nepal - Annapurna 2007 » Chitwan National Park

Nepal's southern region bordering India is called the Terai. Its fertile lowlands are heavily populated, but there are also pockets of the original forests, swamps and grasslands. Chitwan National Park is the most important, one of the last refuges of tigers, rhinos and wild elephants in Nepal.

Chitwan National Park is a wide strip of deciduous and riverine forest along the Narayani River in southern Nepal, along the Indian border. The journey from Pokhara to our jungle lodge in the National Park took nearly 6 hours. We chose to stay at Temple Tiger lodge in the heart of the Park where the wildlife viewing opportunities are best. This photo was taken at dawn from the viewing platform at Temple Tiger which extends out over a large area of swamp and grassland.

Sunrise from Temple Tiger viewing balcony

The Narayani is a wide river and a tributary of the Ganges. It forms a natural border along the north of the Park and attracts many wading birds such as cormorants, egrets and openbill storks. Fish eagles also hunt here. The riverine forests along the banks of the Narayani are home to many animals including tiger, leopard, peafowl and langur monkeys.

Shallow pool near Narayani River

From the river, we travelled deep into the jungle by Jeep. Here, the track winds through the deciduous 'sal' forest where the leaves fall all year round. This is the natural habitat of the Indian rhino, sloth bear and chital (spotted deer) amongst other animals.

Jeep in sal forest

The main activity at the lodge is elephant safaris into the jungle. Travelling by elephant is often the only way to penetrate the thick forest, and is the best way of getting close to wild animals (the elephants are trained to approach rhinos and tigers). Here, elephants move through the tall elephant grass towards a rhino.

Approaching a rhino on elephant back

Chitwan is home to a significant proportion of all the world's Indian rhinos, sometimes called the one-horned rhino. They love to browse near water as this mother and calf were demonstrating, and often spend long periods of time almost fully submerged in the creeks and swamps.

A pair of Indian rhinos

The last rhino census in 2000 counted nearly 400 animals within Chitwan. At that time, poaching was under control, but since then the number of patrolling wardens has been cut and poachers are once again killing rhino. Rhino and elephant also come into conflict with people who live in the buffer zone surrounding the Park. At night they venture beyond the Park boundaries and eat the crops in nearby villages, causing damage on a large scale.

The trained elephants are all female as they have a calmer temperament. The mahout, or elephant driver, is paired with an elephant for life, and teaches it all the commands it needs. Temple Tiger's elephants were impregnated by a wild male (subsequently nicknamed Romeo) and three young were born. They now accompany their mothers on the daily elephant safaris, and get up to all sorts of mischief in the process!

Elephant dust bath

The elephants are led to the river to drink after the safari. The mahout sits behind the elephant's head and controls the animal by pressing with his feet behind its ears. He also carries a short hooked tool which is used for clearing branches from his path and to control the elephant if it misbehaves.

Time for a drink

For the elephants, bathtime seems to be the highlight of their day. They are led one by one down to a muddy pool near the holding station where they seem to take great pleasure in showering themselves (and anyone else who stands too close!)

Elephant bathtime

The guides gave us a talk about the elephants and then gave us the chance to feed them. This female is more than 50 years old, a good age for an Asian elephant, and behind me is the holding station with one of the treehouse lookouts just visible. At night, the mahouts watch over the surrounding area just in case a randy male wild elephant gets any ideas!

Chris feeding elephant

There are two kinds of crocodile in Chitwan, the marsh mugger and the gharial. The gharial, photographed here basking on the banks of the River Narayani, is a critically endangered species. They are large reptiles, up to 6m long, but are not dangerous to humans because they eat only fish. Only a few hundred gharials remain in Nepal.

Gharial on Narayani River

The Hanuman langur is a leaf-eating species of monkey found throughout Nepal's forests. We saw them in the rhododendron forests around the Annapurna region as well as in the treetops of the riverine forests of Chitwan. Chital deer often graze below the monkeys, they benefit from the falling seed pods and the extra pairs of eyes and ears keeping a lookout for tigers.

Over 400 species of bird have been recorded in Chitwan. These chestnut-headed bee-eaters was a common sight around the lodge, catching insects on the wing and sunning themselves on branches. Other spectacular birds we saw included paradise flycatchers and golden orioles.

Chestnut-headed bee-eater

The jungle drongo is another common sight throughout lowland Nepal. It is a bold and raucous character in a similar way to magpies in the UK. This particular bird only moments before had been perched on the back of a rhino!

This beautiful but tiny creature is a purple sunbird, photographed at close quarters from the viewing platform at Temple Tiger. The sunbirds are a large family with colourful plumage and a long curved bill like hummingbirds. They thrive across Nepal - we even saw a small flock in the upper reaches of the Annapurna Sanctuary above the snow line.

The wildlife at Chitwan isn't always big and dangerous! A short walk around the Temple Tiger grounds usually revealed all sorts of creatures lurking in the undergrowth

Lizard at Temple Tiger