National parks and sanctuaries are administered at the state level and are promoted by them as a tourist attraction, which earns them sufficient revenue to keep the sanctuaries running.
Most of the sanctuaries provide well are at least optimum accommodation and other facilities but they had to be booked in advance. Some parks even provide modern guest houses.
Usually van and jeep rides and also boat trips are arranged to give the visitors a good view of the animals in their natural habitats. Watchtowers and hides are also available.
Some of the notable parks and sanctuaries are listed below.
Some of the notable parks and sanctuaries are listed below.
DACHIGAM WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
This sanctuary
has a scenic valley and a meandering river. Wildlife here includes rare
Kashmiri
stags, black bears , and musk deers. In recent years the wildlife
here have been vastly endangered. It is 22 km by road from Srinagar.It is best
to visit it during June- July.
CORBETT NATIONAL PARK
This
park in Uttar Pradesh is famous for its
tigers.
Other wild lives include cheetahs, deer, elephants, leopards, and sloth bears.
The park has good scenery with sal and hardwood trees. There are numerous watch
towers and daytime photography is allowed. Best time to visit is November to
May.
SUNDERBANS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
This reserve
in West Bengal is to the southeast of the city of Calcutta. It contains the
mangrove forests of the Gangetic delta. It is an important haven for
tigers
but it also includes fishing cats and a wide variety of birds. It is accessible
by a boat ride only. It can be visited around February- March.
MANAS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
This area
bordering Bhutan is formed by the rivers Manas, Hakua and Beki Rivers and is
situated in Assam state. The wildlife includes tigers,
buffaloes ,
elephants , sambhars, swamp deers and
langurs. The
bodo rebels of Assam have recently used it and consequently most of its infrastructure
has been destroyed. Visit it around January- March.
KAZIRANGA
NATIONAL PARK
This park
in Assam is famous for its
one-horned
Rhinos which are almost extinct now but for a few. The park is
full of tall grasses and swampy areas. The rhinos can be spotted around the
swampy areas, bathing. Egrets and other birds are also accommodated here. It
can be visited from February to March.
RANTHAMBORE
NATIONAL PARK
Ranthambore
or Sawai Madhopur in Rajsthan is smaller in size when compared to most of the
parks in India. It is famous for its
lake tigers but nowadays the number has dwindled thanks to large-scale
poaching in these areas. It is located on the Mumbai- Delhi rail-line and is
160 kms by road from Jaipur. Best time to visit- November to May.
KEOLADEO
GHANA BIRD SANCTUARY
This is
the best-known bird sanctuary in India, situated in Rajasthan. It is also called
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and features a large number of
migrating
birds from Siberia and China, which include herons, storks, cranes
and geese. It also houses deers and other wildlife. Visit it around September
to February.
SASAN
GIR NATIONAL PARK
This Oasis
in the deserts of Gujarat is famous for the
Asiatic
lions, which number around 250. They can be spotted around the
lakes and other watering holes. It also includes crocodiles. The park remains
closed from mid-May to mid-October.
KANHA
NATIONAL PARK
This is
one of the spectacular and most exciting parks for wildlife in India and is
in Madhya Pradesh. Originally it was conceived to protect the
swamp deers also called Barasinghas but now it also includes
tigers, chitals, blackbucks, langurs and leopards. The park is closed from July
to October.
PERIYAR
WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
This is
a large and scenic park in Kerala state built around an artificial lake. It
is famous for its large elephant
population. Others include the wild dogs, Nilgiri Langurs, otters,
tortoise, and hornbills. Best time to visit is around February to May.
VEDANTHANGAL
BIRD SANCTUARY
This is
situated around 35kms to the south of Chengalpattu in Tamilnadu and is home
for a large variety of birds.
Cormorants,
egrets, herons, storks, ibises, pelicans, grebes and hornbills
breed here from October to March. At the peak season of December to January
more than 30, 000 birds can be spotted.
CALIMERE
WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
This one
also known as Koddikarai is situated in Tamilnadu, around 90 kms from Tanjore.
This is a wetland area jutting out of the Palk Strait that separates India and
Sri Lanka. It is famous for flocks of migratory birds mainly
flamingoes.
Black bucks, spotted deers and wild pigs are found here. Time to visit: November
to January.
MUDANTHURAI
TIGER SANCTUARY
This is
located in Tamilnadu along its border with Kerala. It mainly consists of tigers
but also has chitals, sambhars and lion tailed macaques. But it is extremely
difficult to spot the tigers.
Best time to visit is between January and March.
ANAMALAI
WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
This
is along the slopes of the western ghat mountains in the border between Tamilnadu
and Kerala. It is also known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. It has an
area of around 1000 sq Km and houses elephants,
gaurs, tigers, panthers, deers, boars, porcupines and wild cats. In its heart
lies the Parambiculam Dam, which is of good scenic beauty. The best time to
visit this is between February and June.
