I read that Jim Corbett National Park is the best place to see the endangered Bengal tiger. Has anyone been to the park? The site said that it has a large amount of visitors every year. Does that mean it's overly busy all the time? I'm thinking that means the animals are probably disturbed on a constant basis and maybe are hard to see?
Jim Corbett National Park
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amelia88
Active Member
From what I've researched about the park for my trip so far, tourists are only allowed in certain sections of the park, to allow for the animals to have that refuge if they need it. So I think you would still be fine. To me it sounds like they take the balance of tourist expectations with managing the environment for the animals very seriously so that it's a good experience for everyone.
I'm glad to hear that. I often wonder if, as a tourist, I'm invading their space and disturbing their natural habitat to the detriment of the animal. I live in a city that takes it's tourism seriously and sometimes find it difficult to get to work on time with all the tourists crossing the streets and blocking sidewalks. I can imagine an animal that lives in the wild would find it uncomfortable to be constantly watch and harassed by people.
briannagodess
Well-Known Member
Hello there!
The Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in the country. It was established in 1936 as the Hailey National Park and was renamed as the Jim Corbett National Park after independence. It is located in Uttarakhand, along the Ramganga River. The name of the park came from its founder and conservationist, Sir Edward James Corbett. It was also the first national park in the Project Tiger Division of the Ministry of Forestry. Now, the reserve is one of the largest in India, with an area of 1,318 square kilometres.
It has five zones and there's a limit to the number of vehicles that can visit for each day for each zone. Only 180 vehicles are allowed to enter each day in the park. And for each safari, the visitors are allowed to enter only one zone. Lastly, each visitor can do a maximum of two safaris per day. Here are the zones:
So, as you can see, by limiting the number of vehicles and visitors per day, the management is able to retain the environment of the national park. Two zones are open all-year round: Dhella and Jhirna. Other zones are closed during the monsoon season as the terrains become too difficult to traverse during this time. Aside from that, the management also wants to give way to the mating of the animals which happens during the rainy season.
If you want to spot tigers, then consider staying in the Bijrani and Dhikala Zones. They offer the greatest chances of spotting tigers. You'd have to stay for more than one day though to spot tigers. Although some people were lucky enough to spot tigers on their first visit.
I hope this helps!
The Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in the country. It was established in 1936 as the Hailey National Park and was renamed as the Jim Corbett National Park after independence. It is located in Uttarakhand, along the Ramganga River. The name of the park came from its founder and conservationist, Sir Edward James Corbett. It was also the first national park in the Project Tiger Division of the Ministry of Forestry. Now, the reserve is one of the largest in India, with an area of 1,318 square kilometres.
It has five zones and there's a limit to the number of vehicles that can visit for each day for each zone. Only 180 vehicles are allowed to enter each day in the park. And for each safari, the visitors are allowed to enter only one zone. Lastly, each visitor can do a maximum of two safaris per day. Here are the zones:
- Dhikala - Four canter vehicles are allowed to enter this zone everyday, that is in addition to the 180 vehicles allowed per day. Conducted tours happen in the Dhikala Zone. Each canter can seat up to 16 people. The hog deer is exclusively found in this zone. It also has the largest accommodation options out of all the zones.
- Bijrani - This zone can only accommodate up to 60 vehicles per day. This zone is a combination of pure Sal forests, with a mixture of deciduous forests and grasslands. It is drier in comparison with Dhikala and also has a more diverse variety of plants. Tiger sightings are usually reported here. There are also two rest houses in here: one in Bijrani and the other 12 kms Northwest of Bijrani, in Malani.
- Jhirna - This zone can also accommodate up to 60 vehicles per day. There's a combination of dense wooden greenery here along with grasslands. For Sloth bear sightings, this is an excellent zone. There are some tigers here as well but not as easily sighted like in the Bijrani Zone. This is also a good zone for bird watchers. In the Southern part of the zone, there's a rest house for visitors.
- Dhella - This zone accommodates up to 30 vehicles per day. This zone was just opened in December 2014. Also, there's a nature trail of up to five kilometres that tourists can do here. Only two nature trails are allowed per day, with about 8 persons each. This zone is open all-year round for visitors.
- Domunda - This zone accommodates up to 30 vehicles per day. This zone has its fair share of elephants, tigers and leopards. However, it's mainly a bird watcher's paradise and an angler's haven for the Mandal and Ramganga Rivers flow in here.
So, as you can see, by limiting the number of vehicles and visitors per day, the management is able to retain the environment of the national park. Two zones are open all-year round: Dhella and Jhirna. Other zones are closed during the monsoon season as the terrains become too difficult to traverse during this time. Aside from that, the management also wants to give way to the mating of the animals which happens during the rainy season.
If you want to spot tigers, then consider staying in the Bijrani and Dhikala Zones. They offer the greatest chances of spotting tigers. You'd have to stay for more than one day though to spot tigers. Although some people were lucky enough to spot tigers on their first visit.
I hope this helps!
