Chitwan tour and best things to do in Chitwan

This is why you should visit Chitwan National Park

Royal Bengal Tiger in Chitwan National Park

Chitwan national park is the last reminiscent of the jungle that once spread from the foothills of the Himalayas till the Gangetic plains. Massive deforestation, migration and hunting in the last centuries limited it to the 935 sq. km area. The habitat lost and poaching put some of the precious wildlife species in the verge of extension.

So let's look into the historical facts about the depletion. For long time the jungle was ground for recreational hunting for Mughal elites and nobles. With the introduction of modern weapons, it got worse in the time of British reign.

According to historian Mahesh Rangarajan, “over 80,000 tigers…were slaughtered in 50 years from 1875 to 1925. After ascending the throne in 1911, King George V and his retinue travelled north to Nepal, slaying 39 tigers in 10 days. Colonel Geoffrey Nightingale shot more than 300 tigers in India. Thousands of Tigers were killed before hunting was outlawed in the Terai jungle in 1970es. Even the models in US and Europe in cat skin coats in the 1950es creating fashion craze and a big cause of Tiger hunt.

Similarly there has been massive deforestation in different historical occasions. One of the major deforestation took place during the expansion of Indian Railway. The historical account says that Mr collier from Indian Forest department was entrusted to collect 2,00,000 railway sleepers from Nepal by then Rana prime minister. 

 

King George V hunting in Chitwan in 1911

The conservation started with formation of Chitwan National Park in 1973. Conservationists went through several challenges like loose security during 10 years long Maoist insurgency, flooding and of course all time threat of poaching. The hard work of over four decade have paid off making Chitwan National park as one of the best place for animal sighting in Asia. Chitwan National park is habitat of 40 species of mammals, 500 species of birds, 70 reptiles and 60 species of fishes. The most fascinating sights are of  Asian single horned Rhinos, 4 species of deer, two species of crocodile, monkeys, pythons. The endangered species like Leopard, Sloth bear and Royal Bengal Tigers are bit illusive but are seen by tourists and locals every now and then. There are also herds of wild elephants and Bison in the deeper jungle.

Support sustainable tourism for conservation

Aboriginal Tharu Women from Chitwan

Tourism plays vital role in conservation of Chitwan National Park. The earlier decades of conservation was challenging with habitat lost, poaching and hunting. The human - wildlife conflict caused locals to rather support poaching and hunting. However execution of sustainable tourism helped a lot to curb poaching and number of endangered species increased consecutively. In the past decade, Chitwan national park was successful in announcing zero poaching years.

The Chitwan safari and wildlife tour creates employment and consume local products. The revenue collected as park fees and taxes were invested in electric fencing, education and health of the locals. As a result, no of Asian Rhinos increased from 534 in 2011 to 645 in 2018. Similarly no of Royal Bengal Tigers increased from 120 in 2019 to 235.

Elephant tourism

Bathing with an elephant in Chitwan

Recently, the way Elephant were treated in Asia had been a subject of human cruelty against animal. However the situation is slightly different in Nepal. Elephants were breed and used by elites and nobles for thousands of years. The advent of cars, displaced them in India and Nepal. Elephants belonging to royalties and elites were rehabilitated in the outskirt of jungle and used for patrolling and jungle safari. These elephants were not captivated from the wild and they are quite expensive to keep. In such tourism is their new employment. Because of their handiness in patrolling the jungle, their wild counterpart and other endangered species are safe.
So we request all tourist going to Chitwan to preach for better treatment of elephants but support the sustainable tourism.

Chitwan jungle safari activities

Jungle walk

Escorted walk in Chitwan national park

Walking is the best way to explore the jungle. Jungle walk could be planned from 1 - 3 days. Walking is eco-friendly and creates less disturbances to the wildlife. Also the animal sightseeing is better as one can wait silently at confluence of rivers, Marsh and other common dwellings of the animals.

Canoe ride

Mugger Crocodile basking in the sun

Dugout canoe made out of the Kapok Tree is what people in Terai have been using for fishing and crossing rivers. This now have become tourist thing to see wildlife in Chitwan. Floating down the River in Canoe is the best way to see crocodiles, aquatic birds and other animals coming out to drink water. There are two different species of crocodile in Chitwan national park – Gharial and Magar. Being coldblooded animals, they come out on the riverbanks to bask in the sun. Similarly large numbers of birds like kingfishers, heron, geese, ducks, storks rely on rivers.

Jeep Safari

Jeep safari passing by tropical Marsh in the jungle

If you want to explore wide area of the jungle in short time, jeep is the best option. No vehicles from outside are allowed in the jungle. There are Jeep in green available in the outskirt of national park. Jeep safari is quicker and is also less tiring. It is very practical if you have heavy equipment for photography or for family with kids.

Elephant safari

Government elephant coming back from the jungle

Elephant back safari is the most effective way of exploring the jungle. Elephants were used for thousands of years for hunting and other purposes. Their size and strength provides natural defense against the wild animals. They penetrate through the dense forest removing any obstacles with their trunk.


iTourNepal.com P Ltd is specialized in organizing customized jungle safari and wildlife tour in Chitwan National park. We offer Nepal tour packages from 5 days to two weeks with visit to Chitwan national park. Check out our tour packages of write us to customize wildlife and bird watching tours in Chitwan.

Nepal is safe and happy country in spite of poverty so far. People are honest, dignified and hardworking even though agriculture is subsistence. In such the country has lot of challenges of child mortality, health, education, women trafficking, truth and conciliation after the 10 years long Maoist war and the aftermath of 2015 earthquake.
Despite all the challenges, the country has achieved tremendous success in conservation of endangered wildlife. We recommend all the tourists visiting Nepal to visit Chitwan and support one of the sustainable tourism.
Some INGO’s and organizations are collecting illicit donations in the name of elephant welfare and are unwisely spreading negative about the Chitwan national park. What they don’t see is how they have been instead supporting poaching and have been threat to many other endangered species in the wild.
We request all tourists to visit Chitwan National park to support the sustainable tourism to preserve threatened wildlife. We can be more constructive to support  welfare of elephants by taking jeep safari or day long jungle walk as an alternate.
Visit our website for more Nepal Tours with sustainable tourism practices.