Chitwan National Park is the first national park in Nepal. It was created in 1973 and originally named Royal Chitwan National Park. In 1984, it was recognized as a World Heritage Site. The park covers an area of 952.63 square kilometers (367.81 square miles) in the Terai region of south-central Nepal. The elevation within the park ranges from about 100 meters (330 feet) in river valleys to 815 meters (2,674 feet) in the Sivalik Hills.

History

From the late 1800s, Chitwan was a popular hunting area for Nepal's ruling class during the cool winter months. Until the 1950s, traveling from Kathmandu to the southern part of 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 square kilometers (1,000 square miles) 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 hunting of wildlife became widespread. 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 forests had been cleared, malaria was eliminated using DDT, thousands of people had settled there, and only 95 rhinos remained. The sharp drop in the rhino population and the high level of hunting led the government to create the Gaida Gasti, a rhino protection patrol of 130 armed men and a system of guard posts across Chitwan. To stop rhinos from disappearing, Chitwan National Park was officially established in December 1970. Its borders were marked the following year, and the park was fully created in 1973, covering an area of 544 square kilometers (210 square miles).

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

In 1977, the park was expanded to its current size of 952.63 square kilometers (367.81 square miles). In 1997, a buffer zone of 766.1 square kilometers (295.8 square miles) was added to the north and west of the Narayani-Rapti river system, and between the park’s southeastern boundary and the border with India. The word "Royal" was removed from the park’s name in 2006, at the end of the Nepalese Civil War.

Geography

Chitwan National Park covers an area of 952.63 km (367.81 sq mi) 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 limits human settlements in the north and west. To the east of Chitwan National Park is Parsa National Park, and to the south is the Indian Tiger Reserve Valmiki National Park. Together, these areas create a protected region of 2,075 km (801 sq mi), known as the Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki. This area spans 3,549 km (1,370 sq mi) and includes grasslands formed by river deposits 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) annual rainfall occurs. After mid-October, monsoon clouds move away, humidity decreases, and daily temperatures gradually drop from around 36 °C (97 °F) to 18 °C (64 °F). Nighttime temperatures fall to about 5 °C (41 °F) until late December, when light rain occurs for a few days. Temperatures then slowly increase again.

Vegetation

The Inner Terai region is home to Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, where sal trees make up about 70% of the national park. The densest groups of sal trees grow on well-drained lowland areas in the center of the park. 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 changing mix of riverine forests and grasslands near rivers. On newly formed soil and in lowland areas, groups of catechu (Acacia catechu) and rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo) are most common. These are followed by groups of kapok (Bombax ceiba) and rhino apple trees (Trewia nudiflora), whose fruits rhinos enjoy. Shrubs like velvety beautyberry (Callicarpa macrophylla), hill glory bower (Clerodendrum sp.), and gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica) grow beneath the trees and provide shelter for many animals.

Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands cover about 20% of the park. Over 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 various true grasses. Kans grass (Saccharum spontaneum) is often the first to grow on new sandbanks but is washed away each year during monsoon floods.

Fauna

Chitwan National Park has many types of plants and is home to more than 700 kinds of wildlife. Scientists have not yet fully studied the number of butterfly, moth, and insect species living there. The park is also home to king cobras, rock pythons, 17 other snake species, starred tortoises, and monitor lizards. The Narayani-Rapti river system, its small streams, and many oxbow lakes provide habitat 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 and hatched in a breeding center. The young gharials are raised until they are 6–9 years old and then released back into the river system, though few survive.

Chitwan National Park is home to 68 mammal species. The Bengal tiger, called the "king of the jungle," lives in the alluvial floodplain habitat of the Terai, one of the best tiger habitats in the world. When the park was first established, there were about 25 tigers. By 1980, their number had grown to 70–110. In some years, their population has decreased because of poaching and floods. A study from 1995 to 2002 found 82 breeding tigers and 6 female tigers per 100 square kilometers. Camera traps in 2010 and 2011 showed tiger density between 4.44 and 6.35 individuals per 100 square kilometers. Tigers are less active during the day when humans are most active.

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

Chitwan has the highest number of sloth bears, with an estimated 200–250 individuals. Smooth-coated otters live in the park’s creeks and rivulets. 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, and several civet species in the park’s southern and western areas.

Indian rhinoceroses have recovered well since 1973. By the turn of the century, their population had grown to 544. To protect them from disease, rhinos are moved yearly to Bardia and Shuklaphanta National Parks since 1986. However, poaching has repeatedly threatened their survival. In 2002, poachers killed 37 rhinos to steal their horns. Chitwan has the largest rhino population in Nepal, with 605 of the country’s 645 rhinos as of 2015. Gaurs live mostly in the Churia Hills but move to grasslands and riverine forests in spring to feed. Their numbers in Chitwan increased from 188 to 368 between 1997 and 2016. About 112 gaurs also live 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 live in the hills. Rhesus macaques, gray langurs, Indian pangolins, Indian crested porcupines, flying squirrels, black-naped hares, and endangered hispid hares are also present. In 2016, 18 wild water buffalo were moved to Chitwan from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve.

Chitwan National Park is an Important Bird Area (IBA) designated by BirdLife International. Bird watchers and conservationists survey birds across Nepal each year. In 2006, 543 bird species were recorded in Chitwan, more than in any other protected area in Nepal. This includes about two-thirds of Nepal’s globally threatened bird species. In spring 2008, 20 black-chinned yuhina, a pair of Gould’s sunbird, a pair of blossom-headed parakeet, and one slaty-breasted rail were sighted.

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 warblers. In 2005, more than 200 slender-billed babblers were seen in three 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 are brahminy ducks and goosanders. Large groups of bar-headed geese stop in Chitwan for a few days 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 sunbirds are common during the monsoon season. Among many flycatcher species, the Indian paradise flycatcher, with its long, undulating tail, is a striking sight.

Literature

• Bird Conservation Nepal (2006). Birds of Chitwan. A list of 543 bird species reported in the area. Published with the help of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and 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.