Chitwan National Park is the first national park in Nepal. It was created in 1973 and was called Royal Chitwan National Park. In 1984, it was given the title of a World Heritage Site. The park covers an area of 952.63 square kilometers in the Terai region of south-central Nepal. The land in the park has elevations that go from about 100 meters in the river valleys up to 815 meters in the Sivalik Hills.

History

Since the end of the 19th century, Chitwan was a popular hunting area for Nepal's leaders during the cool winter months. Before the 1950s, traveling from Kathmandu to southern Nepal was difficult, as the journey could only be made on foot and took many weeks. Comfortable camps were built for wealthy hunters and their groups, where they stayed for several months and hunted hundreds of tigers, rhinoceroses, elephants, leopards, and sloth bears.

In 1950, Chitwan’s forests and grasslands covered more than 2,600 km² (1,000 sq mi) and were home to about 800 rhinos. When poor farmers from the mid-hills moved to the Chitwan Valley to find farmland, the area was opened for settlement, and illegal hunting of wildlife became common. In 1957, Nepal passed its first law to protect rhinos and their habitat. Research on Chitwan was conducted by Edward Pritchard Gee between 1959 and 1963.

By the end of the 1960s, 70% of Chitwan’s jungles had been cleared, malaria was controlled using DDT, thousands of people had settled there, and only 95 rhinos remained. The sharp drop in rhino numbers and widespread hunting led the government to create the Gaida Gasti—a patrol of 130 armed men and a system of guard posts across Chitwan. To save rhinos from extinction, Chitwan National Park was officially established in December 1970, with boundaries set the next year and the park fully created in 1973, covering an initial area of 544 km² (210 sq mi).

When the first protected areas were created in Chitwan, the Tharu people were forced to leave their traditional lands. They were not allowed to own land, leading to homelessness and poverty. When the national park was established, Nepalese soldiers destroyed villages inside the park’s boundaries, burning homes and damaging farmland with elephants. The Tharu people were driven away by force.

In 1977, the park was expanded to its current size of 952.63 km² (367.81 sq mi). In 1997, a buffer zone of 766.1 km² (295.8 sq mi) was added to the north and west of the Narayani-Rapti river system and between the park’s southeastern edge and the border with India. The word “Royal” was removed from the park’s name in 2006, following the end of the Nepalese Civil War.

Geography

Chitwan National Park covers an area of 952.63 km² (367.81 mi²) in the Terai region of southern Nepal. Its elevation ranges from about 100 m (330 ft) in river valleys to 815 m (2,674 ft) in the Sivalik Hills. The park includes parts of Nawalpur, Chitwan, Makwanpur, and Parsa Districts. The Narayani-Rapti river system forms a natural boundary that separates human settlements from the park’s northern and western areas. To the east of Chitwan National Park lies Parsa National Park, and to the south is the Indian Tiger Reserve Valmiki National Park. Together, these areas form a connected protected region of 2,075 km² (801 mi²), known as the Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki. This unit covers a large area of 3,549 km² (1,370 mi²), which includes alluvial grasslands and subtropical moist deciduous forests.

Chitwan has a humid subtropical monsoon climate (Cwa) with high humidity throughout the year. It is located in the central climatic zone of the Himalayas, where the monsoon season begins in mid-June and ends in late September. During these 14–15 weeks, most of the 2,500 mm (98 in) of annual rainfall occurs. After mid-October, monsoon clouds move away, humidity decreases, and daily temperatures gradually drop from about 36 °C (97 °F) to 18 °C (64 °F). Nighttime temperatures fall to 5 °C (41 °F) until late December, when light rain occurs for a few days. After that, temperatures slowly increase again.

Vegetation

The typical plants in the Inner Terai are Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, with sal trees making up about 70% of the national park area. The densest groups of sal trees grow on well-drained lowland areas in the center. Along the southern side of the Churia Hills, sal trees are mixed with chir pine (Pinus roxburghii). On the northern slopes, sal trees grow alongside smaller flowering trees and shrubs, such as beleric (Terminalia bellirica), rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo), axlewood (Anogeissus latifolia), elephant apple (Dillenia indica), grey downy balsam (Garuga pinnata), and creepers like Bauhinia vahlii and Spatholobus parviflorus.

Seasonal bushfires, flooding, and erosion create a constantly changing mix of riverine forests and grasslands along riverbanks. On newly deposited soil and in lowland areas, groups of catechu (Acacia catechu) with rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo) are most common, followed by groups of kapok (Bombax ceiba) with rhino apple trees (Trewia nudiflora). Rhinos enjoy eating the fruits of rhino apple trees. Shrubs like velvety beautyberry (Callicarpa macrophylla), hill glory bower (Clerodendrum sp.), and gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica) provide shelter and nesting areas for many species.

Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands cover about 20% of the park's area. More than 50 plant species grow here, including some of the world's tallest grasses, such as elephant grass (Saccharum ravennae), giant cane (Arundo donax), khagra reed (Phragmites karka), and several true grasses. Kans grass (Saccharum spontaneum) is one of the first grasses to grow on new sandbanks but is often carried away by yearly monsoon floods.

Fauna

Chitwan National Park has many types of plants. This area is home to over 700 wildlife species and a large, but not fully studied, number of butterfly, moth, and insect species. In addition to king cobras and rock pythons, 17 other snake species, starred tortoises, and monitor lizards live here. The Narayani-Rapti river system, its small streams, and many oxbow lakes provide homes for 113 recorded fish species and mugger crocodiles. In the early 1950s, about 235 gharials lived in the Narayani River. By 2003, their population had dropped to only 38 wild gharials. Each year, gharial eggs are collected from rivers to hatch in a special breeding center. The young gharials are raised until they are 6–9 years old. Then, they are released back into the Narayani-Rapti river system, but few survive.

Chitwan National Park is home to 68 mammal species. The Bengal tiger, known as the "king of the jungle," lives here. The alluvial floodplain habitat of the Terai is one of the best places in the world for tigers. When the park was first created, there were about 25 tigers. By 1980, their number had grown to 70–110. In some years, tiger numbers have dropped because of poaching and floods. Between 1995 and 2002, researchers found that there were 82 breeding tigers and 6 female tigers per 100 square kilometers. Camera traps in 2010 and 2011 showed that tiger density ranged from 4.44 to 6.35 individuals per 100 square kilometers. Tigers are less active during the day when humans are most active.

Indian leopards are most often found near the edges of the park. They live with tigers but are not common in areas where tigers are most active. In 1988, a clouded leopard was captured outside the park, given a radio collar, and released into the park. However, it did not stay.

Chitwan has the highest number of sloth bears in Nepal, with an estimated 200 to 250 individuals. Smooth-coated otters live in the many small streams and rivers. Bengal foxes, spotted linsangs, and honey badgers hunt for food in the jungle. Striped hyenas live on the southern slopes of the Churia Hills. In 2011, camera traps recorded dholes, Indian jackals, fishing cats, jungle cats, leopard cats, crab-eating mongooses, yellow-throated martens, large and small Indian civets, and Asian palm civets in the southern and western parts of the park.

Indian rhinoceroses have recovered well since 1973. By the turn of the century, their population had grown to 544. To protect them from disease, animals are moved annually to Bardia National Park and Shuklaphanta National Park since 1986. However, poaching has repeatedly threatened their survival. In 2002, poachers killed 37 rhinoceroses to sell their horns. Chitwan has the largest rhinoceros population in Nepal, with about 605 of the country’s 645 total rhinoceroses in 2015. Gaurs live mostly in the Churia Hills but move to grasslands and riverine forests in spring when fires subside and grasses grow. Their population in Chitwan increased from 188 to 368 between 1997 and 2016. About 112 gaurs were also counted in the nearby Parsa Wildlife Reserve. These animals move freely between parks. Wild boars, chital, sambar, red muntjac, and Indian hog deer also live in the park. Choushingas and Himalayan serows are found mainly in the hills. Rhesus macaques, gray langurs, Indian pangolins, Indian crested porcupines, several flying squirrel species, black-naped hares, and endangered hispid hares are also present. In 2016, 18 wild water buffalo were brought to Chitwan from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve.

Chitwan National Park is designated as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. Each year, bird watchers and conservationists survey bird species across Nepal. In 2006, they recorded 543 bird species in the park, more than any other protected area in Nepal and about two-thirds of the country’s globally threatened bird species. In spring 2008, 20 black-chinned yuhinas, a pair of Gould’s sunbirds, a pair of blossom-headed parakeets, and one slaty-breasted rail were seen.

The park’s alluvial grasslands are important for the critically endangered Bengal florican, the vulnerable lesser adjutant, grey-crowned prinia, swamp francolin, and several grass warbler species. In 2005, over 200 slender-billed babblers were seen in three different grassland types. The near threatened Oriental darter nests near lakes, where egrets, bitterns, storks, and kingfishers also live. Chitwan is one of the few places where the globally threatened spotted eagle breeds. Peafowl and jungle fowl live on the forest floor.

In addition to resident birds, about 160 migrating and vagrant species arrive in Chitwan each autumn from northern areas to spend the winter. These include the greater spotted eagle, eastern imperial eagle, and Pallas’s fish-eagle. Common winter visitors include brahminy ducks and goosanders. Large groups of bar-headed geese stop briefly in February on their way north.

When winter visitors leave in spring, summer birds arrive from southern areas. The calls of cuckoos signal the start of spring. Colorful pittas and several sunbird species are common during the monsoon season. Among many flycatcher species, the Indian paradise flycatcher, known for its long, wavy tail, is a striking sight.

Literature

• Bird Conservation Nepal (2006). Birds of Chitwan. A list of 543 bird species that have been reported. Published with the help of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and the Participatory Conservation Programme II, Kathmandu.
• Gurung, K. K., Singh, R. (1996). Field Guide to the Mammals of the Indian Subcontinent. Academic Press, San Diego. ISBN 0-12-309350-3.