Nagarhole National Park is part of the huge Nilgiri Biosphere, an area of diverse landscapes and vegetation spread over parts of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Nagarhole is one of very few places in India where you might be lucky enough to see tigers, leopards, sloth bears and elephants in the same trip. The Park is also home to species such as barking deer, sambar deer, mongoose, Indian giant flying squirrel, porcupine, crocodile and a lot more besides. The forest is truly lovely with many small streams as well as some larger lakes and Kabini Lake, a large manmade water body created by the damming of the Kabini River. Birds are also plentiful here, particularly around the forest edges and the lakes.
Wildlife, Trekking And The Great Outdoors
Early morning and late afternoon safaris are provided, invariably the best time to see animals while they are active. Exact hours vary with sunrise and sunset, but for morning safaris you'll need to make a very early start!
Jeep safaris are really the only recommended way to experience Nagarhole: the smaller, and more manoeuvrable vehicles are much better suited to wildlife spotting than the larger, unwieldy buses which offer much more limited viewing too. Coracle- small boat- safaris are also a great way to see the fringes of the forest from on the water- this is the best way to see elephants.
There is limited trekking possible although of course due to the presence of predators (tigers mainly) and large animals such as gaur- Indian bison- and elephants, there are a lot of parts of the Park which are off-limits to hikers.
Nagerhole National Park
Few places offer the wide array of wildlife which calls Nagarhole National Park home, making this one of the very best places in all of India to see a plethora of species. When combined with one or more of the other protected areas, time in the Nilgiri Biosphere is a must for wildlife lovers. Among the other places you might want to include are Bandipur National Park with its expansive grassland habitat- great for elephant sightings- and Mudumalai National Park which allows for a lot more trekking/hiking due to the lack of larger species there.
