The Dudhwa National Park is located in the Lakhimpur-Kheri district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on the Indo Nepal Border. The two core areas are included in the Dudhwa Tiger reserve. These are Dudhwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary. These areas are separated by the agricultural land in between and are fifteen kilometers apart from each other. The northern boundary of the park is constituted by the Mohana River that flows along the Indo Nepal border while the Suheli River forms its southern boundary. The other part of the tiger reserve, Kishanpur sanctuary, lies in Shahajahanpur and Lakihmpur Kheri districts inUttar Pradesh.
The vast alluvial plains comprise the area of the park between the Mohana and Suheli rivers. Many rivulets, pools and lakes interspersing the park make the area very fertile and rich. It is a part of the Indo Gangetic plains hence supports the growth of luxuriant forests and large variety of fauna.

The grasslands here includes Cymbopogon martini and different other weeds. Large area of the Sal forests has dense coverings of Tiliacora sq which is also one of the varieties of weed. The weeds are inedible for the herbivores and hence a large area is becoming inhospitable to the herbivores  as these weeds are spreading rapidly.

General Information

History

The Dudhwa National park was brought under the Government’s control in the year 1861 immediately after Sir D.B. Brandis visited the area in the year 1860. It was a forest area spread over 303 square miles of land at that time. The area falling in the Kheri district, comprising the Sal forests and some other grass lands along with the miscellaneous forests spread in the Kharigarh Pargana, between the Suheli and Mohana rivers was included in the North Kheri forest Division at that time. During the years 1867 to 1879 many regions were reserved for protection and were included in the North Kheri forest Division.

In the year 1937, the area of the division was constituted as reserved forests legally in the year 1937. In the year 1958, the Sonaripur Sanctaury was created which comprise of 15.7 square kilometer of area. This area was created in order to protect the swamp deer. This small area was later enlarged by adding more area (212 sq. km) and was named as Dudhwa sanctuary in the year 1968. In the year 1977 more area was included in the Sanctuary’s area and it was declared as Dudhwa National park. The entire area of the park was 616 square kilometers encompassing 490 square kilometer of the core zone and remaining 124 square kilometer as buffer zone.

Finally in the year 1987 and 1988, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve was established including both Dudhwa national park and Kishanpur Sanctuary which has an area of 203.41 square kilometer. In the year 1997 66 square kilometer of Buffer zone was added to the reserve and now the entire area covered by the Tiger Reserve is 884 square kilometers.

Flora

The vegetation of the Dudhwa region comprise of the Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest, Swamp and Riparian Forest, Dry Deciduous Forest and Tropical Semi-Evergreen Forest. Extensive grasslands stretches are disrupting the entire region of the Dudhwa national park. These grasslands are called phantas locally. There are number of trees found here and the dominant species include Terminalis tomentosa,Adina cordifolia,Shorea robusta, Eugenia jambolana,Dalbergia sissoo, Bombax malabaricum and Bombax malabaricum.

Fauna

Among the fauna, the major attractions of Dudhwa national park are the tigers with a population of 98 as per recorded in the year 1995. The other species found here are swamp deer with a population of around 1600. Zoo born tigers and leopards were hand reared and introduced in the Dudhwa National Park by ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh. The park is also inhabited by some rare species like hispid hare which was considered to be extinct earlier and was rediscovered at Dudhwa in the year 1984. India rhinoceros were reintroduced here from Nepal and Assam during the mid-1980s.

The other species found here include Sambar Deer, Swamp Deer, Barking Deer,Hog Deer,Spotted Deer, Tiger,Sloth Bear,Indian Rhinoceros, Ratel,Jungle Cat,Jackal, Civet, Fishing Cat, Leopard Cat etc. Te birdlife of the park is also very rich. Around 350 species of bird are found here that include Great Slaty Woodpecker, Swamp Francolin, and Bengal Florican. A wide range of migratory birds visit Dudhwa each year during the winter season. Black and white necked storks,painted storks, Sarus Cranes,barbets,kingfishers,woodpeckers, minivets, bul buls, bee-eaters and many night birds of prey.

Bara Singhas are found here in large number. They are usually spotted in herds of hundreds roaming in the park. The dudhwa national park houses around half of the world’s total barasinghas. They are usually smaller than sambar deer and have twelve antlers, measuring up to 100 centimeters or 39 inches. These are spotted in herd usually passing through the grasslands at Dudhawa. Their weight is around 180 kilograms and they are in dark brown to yellow pale in color. Grasslands are best camouflage to this color cloak.

Birds

Dudhwa offers a wonderful delight to the bird watchers. The main species fund here are Barbets,Drongos, Cormorants,Geese,Ducks, Hornbills,Teal,Bulbuls, Woodpeckers,Bee Eaters,Minivets,Heron, Kingfishers,sarus cranes,plenty of painted storks, owls, Orioles, Egrets and many more. Around 400 migratory birds are found in the marsh lands each year during the winters. The species of the migratory birds that visit dudhwa include Great Slaty Woodpecker,Swamp Francolin, Bengal Florican,Sarus Crane, woodpecker, Asian barbet, and minivets . The avian fauna of the park is majorly aquatic in nature and found near banke tal and Dudhwa lake .

Best Time to Visit

The park is open to the visitors from November 15th to June 15th each year after the monsoon season is over.

Distance from Dudhwa National Park

The distance of Dudhwa from nearest railway stations is:

4 kilometers from Dudhwa, 10 kilometers from Palia and 37 kilometers from mailani. The nearest airports are at Lucknow and Dhangarhi in Nepal which is 35 kilometers away from Dudhwa.

How to get there

Dudhwa National park is at a drive of eight to nine hours from Delhi. Train is available from Delhi to Shahajahanpur. Dudhwa is at a three hours’ drive from there. Lucknow which is 245 km from Dudhwa is the nearest airport.

Contact: Director, Dudhwa National Park, Lakhimpur Kheri, Phone: (05872) 52106

Things to Do in Dudhwa National Park

One can explore wildlife and enjoy the beautiful Sal jungles, grasslands and swamps. Camping is the best experience in Dudhwa.

Location Map

Accommodation

Hotels and Wildlife Resorts

There are several log huts and forest rest houses at Dudhawa.  The Forest rest houses are established here by the visitors at Dudhwa, Sathiana, Bankatti, Sonaripur, Kila etc. tharu huts at Dudhwa are also one of the options for accommodation at dudhwa.

Private Accommodations

For private accommodations one can opt from number of middle rangehotels which are available at nearby towns.

Hotel Sharda, Palia. Phone 05871-233444.

Hotel Pushpanjali, Nighasan Road, Palia. 233172.

Bharat Lodge, Palia, Lakhimpur. 233536.

Hotel Rai Palace - Palia. Tel. No. 235233, 298098.

Hotel Mahendra, Dudhwa National Park Road, Palia, Phone 233247.

Hotel Basera, Station Road, Palia. Phone 233835.

Hotel Roopam, Palia. Tel. No. 9415166102

Hotel Amar, Palia. Tel. No. 234211.

Weather

The maximum temperature during summers reaches up to 45 °C (113 °F) and during winters the minimum temperature is around 9 °C (48 °F). The climate is tropical type.

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