The Chitwan National Park (‘Chitwan’ means “in the heart of the jungle”) covers 932 sq. kms. in the flat lowlands of southern Nepal. It is one of the most important sub-tropical parks on the Indian subcontinent with populations of the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger, greater one-horned Rhinoceros, gangetic Dolphin (Platanista Gangetica), wild Asian Elephant, Gaur, Golden Monitor Lizard, Gharial Crocodile and many other wild animals.
The Chitwan region has a long history of conservation. For many years, it was the royal hunting ground for the Kings and dignitaries of Nepal and therefore, the general public was not allowed to hunt in this area. It did, however, become a favorite spot for big game safari hunters in the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century. This was coupled with a surge in the local human population following the development of anti-malaria medicines in the mid-twentieth century. The long-term effect of this was a drastic decrease in jungle habitat and animal population in the Chitwan valley as jungles were converted to farmlands and big game wild animals were hunted and poached. This reduced the number of wild animals to dangerously low levels. The falling Rhino (less than 200) and Tiger (less than 30) population in the present park region was the main reason that attention was focused on the Chitwan region and in 1963, the southern two-third of the park was declared a Rhino sanctuary. Relocation of 22,000 people from the Chitwan valley and a moratorium on hunting followed the status of the sanctuary. As a result of this, the wildlife population as well as the ecosystem has been rebounding since 1963. In 1973, Chitwan became Nepal’s first National Park. The relatively pristine state of the modern park and its unique ecosystem prompted UNESCO to declare the park as a World Heritage Site in 1998.
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