Valmiki National Park

Valmiki National Park is a national park and tiger reserve in the West Champaran District of Bihar, India covering 898.45 km2. It is the only national park in Bihar.

History
The extensive forest area of Valmikinagar (formally known as Bhainsa Lotan) was previously owned by the Bettiah Raj and Ramanagar Raj until the early 1950s. It was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1978. Valmiki National Park was established in the year 1990. Total area of the park is about 335.65 Km2. Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park is the 17th Tiger Reserve of the country. The Valmiki Tiger Reserve comprises the National Park and the Wildlife Sanctuary.

Location
It is located in West Champaran which derives its name from two words, Champa and Aranya, meaning forest of Champa trees. Geographically, it is situated between 83°0 50′ and 84°0 10′ E longitude and between 27°0 10′ and 27°0 03′ N latitude. Total forest area comprises about 900 km2, out of which the Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary is 880 km2 and spread of the National Park is about 335 km2 area. In the north, the protected areas are bordered by Nepal's Chitwan National Park while the Indian state Uttar Pradesh bounds the sanctuary from western side. Bihar Government is turning 800 hectares of forest in VTR into Grassland making it India's biggest grassland.

Geography
The landscape of Valmiki National Park encompasses foothills of the Sivalik Hills with a mosaic of the cliffs, ridges and gorges, hills, streams and valleys; dense forests, open woodlands, grasslands, swamps and riverine fringe. Situated in Gangetic plains bio-geographic zone of the Country, the forest has combination of bhabar and terai tracts. Boulder and pebble deposits by the Himalayan rivers in foothills characterized the Bhabar tract while the finer sediments deposits feature Terai lands.

Someshwar Hill Range and Dun Hill system with knife-edge ridges and precipitous slopes, cliffs, spurs, gorges, narrow valleys.

Older alluvium with sandy soil with variegated clay and loose boulder deposits and artesian flows; lateritic formations on higher contours and newer Alluvium on southern parts with reissuing springs akin to artesian flows.

Criss-crossing and meandering rivers, streams and rivulets, man-made canals; swamps and grasslands are featured on these lands. River Gandak forms the western boundary of Valmiki wildlife sanctuary. It enters in India at Valmikinagar, where two rivulets Sonha and Pachnad joins it, forming a holy confluence ‘Triveni’. The river is called ‘Narayani’ in Nepal. Harha – Masan River system originates from the Valmiki Forests and forms Burhi Gandak River down south. River Pandai flows into Bihar (India) from Nepal in the eastern end of the Sanctuary and meets Masan. All these rivers with their precursor and tributaries namely Rohua, Kotrahia, Manor, Bhapsa, Koshil, Singha, Dhonghi, Ganguli, Dhoram are full of youth and verve. Their cascades in wanton and wayward playfulness while descending from hills ridges and gorges are enchanting. Meeting the planes they slowly mature to serene grandeur.

Mammals
The wildlife found in the forest of VTR are the Bengal tiger, Indian rhinoceros, Asiatic Elephant, Asiatic black bear, Indian sloth bear, otter, Indian leopard, wild dog, wild water buffalo, and wild boar. There are several species of deer, including barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, Sambar, blue bull. Apart from that the leopard cat, fishing cat, langur, monkey, flying squirrel, clouded leopard, Indian gaur, mongoose can also be sighted. The tiger's population in the Reserve was 10 in 2010, which increased to 22 in 2013 and then 54 in 2022.

There is site in Madanpur forest block on the main road from Madanpur to Valmikinagar where large number of Indian flying fox, a type of bat can be sighted any time.

Reptiles
The reptiles which are commonly found in VTR are pythons, King cobras, Krait, Banded kraits and domuha snakes (sand boas). Among aquatic reptiles, gharial, monitor lizard, etc. are found in VTR. Plenty of crocodiles are found near Belahwa Village which is adjacent to the VTR. Gharials are found in River Gandak, as would be the case with a river that connects to the Ganges.

Birds
At present 241 bird species have been reported to be present in Valmiki National Park, including kalij pheasant, three-toed quail, paradise flycatcher, grey shrike, green willow warbler, tree pipit, white-eyed warbler, green barbet, waders, ibises, storks, pitta, plovers, snipes, Oriental pied hornbill, white-eared night heron, emerald dove, several owls, spotted owlet and nightjars. There are five types of green pigeons and Common wood pigeon.

Butterflies
The jungle of Valmiki National Park abounds in moths, caterpillars and butterflies, including the common Mormon, great Mormon, glassy tiger, great eggfly, club beak, grey pansy, lime butterfly and common crow.

Flora


As per Champion and Seth classification, there are seven forest types:
 * Bhabar – Dun Sal Forest
 * Dry Siwalik Sal Forest
 * West Gangetic Moist Mixed Deciduous Forest
 * Khair – Sissoo Forest
 * Cane Brakes
 * Eastern Wet Alluvial Grassland
 * Barringtonia Swamp Forest

Due to diverse topographical and edaphic factors, the reserve harbors varied vegetation types. The Botanical Survey of India has categorized seven vegetation types within the limits of the national park:
 * Moist mixed deciduous
 * Open – land vegetation
 * Sub-mountainous semi-evergreen formation
 * Freshwater swamps
 * Riparian fringes
 * Alluvial grasslands and high hill savannah
 * Wetlands

The important tree species are sal (Shorea robusta), karam (Adina cardifolia), asan (Terminalia tomentosa), bahera (Terminalia bellirica), asidh (Lagestromia parviflora), simal (Salmelia malaberica) and satsal (Dalbergia latifolia). In hilly regions, piyar (Buchanania cochinchinensis), mandar (Dillenia aurea), banjan (Anogeissus latifolia), bhelwa (Semecarpus anacardium), harra (Terminalia chebula), bodera (Eugenia operculata) occur. There is a special attraction of cane brakes in Madanpur Forest block. There is a small isolated patch of chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) forest in Raghia Forest block at the elevation of 1000 - 1700 ft. Grasses are represented by munj (Tripidium bengalense, kans (Saccharum spontaneum), elephant grass (Typha elephantina), narkat (Phragmites karka), Vitiveria zizanioides, Imperata cylindrica, choranth (Heteropogon contortus), sabai (Eulaliopsis binata). Common climbers are mahulan (Bauhinia vahlii), mahai (Butea parviflora), panilat (Vitis repanda), ramdatwan (Smilax parviflora) and arar (Acacia pinnate). Medicinal plants include satawar (Asparagus racemosus), safed Musli, dudhkoraiya (Holarrahena antidysenterica), amla (Phyllanthus emblica) and piper (Piper longum).