Inspection visit to Bardia National Park in Nepal

Photo: Royal Bengal tiger in Bardia National Park in Nepal

Last week I spent three days in Bardia National Park in Nepal, as usual on an inspection tour one of my aims was to inspect the lodges in order to be in a position to recommend the best ones to our clients. However I also was interested to find out more about Bardia National Park in particular to discover how Bardia compares to Chitwan National Park and whether it was worth travelling further in order to increase ones chances of seeing tiger...

Photo: entrance gates to Bardia National Park

Chitwan National Park is a popular place to visit on a tour of Nepal and also as an extension after a trek in the Himalaya. There is certainly tiger in Chitwan National Park with recent surveys indicating a population of 125 however in practice it seems the chances of seeing a tiger are relatively low. One of the main advantages of Chitwan National Park is its proximity to the main places of Kathmandu, Pokhara and Lumbini whereas Bardia National Park is located in far west of Nepal so it is much further distance to travel. There is a daily flight from Kathmandu to Nepalganj with Yeti Airlines or Buddha Air taking about an hour and then it is a further two hour drive to Bardia National Park.

The current cost of a return flight to and from Kathmandu and Nepalganj is US$330 plus a car for the transfer both ways from airport to Bardia and back to airport is US$130. Therefore the cost to travel to Bardia could be up to US$460 although would be less expensive if there was more than one person to share the cost of the airport transfer. Or the other option is to take a bus from Kathmandu and this journey takes 14 hours however costs only about US$20. The question several of our clients have been asking us recently is whether it is worth the expense (or discomfort of a long bus journey) to travel to Bardia National Park?

Bardia National Park was first set up as Royal Karnali Reserve in 1976 and then upgraded to National Park status in 1988. Bardia is the largest National Park in the Terai with a size of 968 km2 and when including neighbouring Banke National Park (established in 2010) together they form Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) Bardia-Banke covering a total area of 1,518 km2. In comparison the size of Chitwan National Park is 932 km2.

Of course one of the main reasons people like to visit Bardia and Chitwan National Park is to have an opportunity to see the Royal Bengal tiger. According to the World Wildlife Fund in 2011 there were 37 tigers identified in Bardia which showed a significant increase from two years earlier when only 18 were recorded in this National Park. Whereas in Chitwan National Park recent surveys indicate there are in fact more tiger with a population of 125 however due to more riverine forest it is less likely for tourists to view tiger. Personally I have visited Chitwan National Park on three separate occasions and have never seen a tiger, also over the years many of our guests have visited Chitwan and very few of them saw a tiger during their visits.

During the afternoon on my day of arrival we drove through Bardia National Park in a jeep where we saw several animals such as rhesus macaque monkey, swamp deer, spotted deer and single-horned Asiatic rhinoceros. At 5pm we parked up at a place called Tinkune and walked for 5 minute or so to the viewing spot overlooking the river. First we saw two swamp deer cross the river followed by a rhinoceros and her calf then one of the safari guides spotted a tiger in the grass…a little later this majestic cat walked down to the river. The tiger was about 400m away although looked clear through binoculars, after about 10 minutes the tiger slinked off into the grass and disappeared into the forest.

Photo: rhesus macaque monkey

Photo: single horned Asiatic rhinoceros

Photo: swamp deer

From speaking to other guests at the lodge where I was staying everyone had seen a tiger and some were very lucky seeing two or more on each day of their visit to Bardia. I also visited several other lodges and gather most of their guests had also seen tiger most days so it seems this year there is a very high chance of spotting the King of the Jungle in Bardia. From discussing this further with the naturalist guides it seems that the number of tigers seen by their guests varies year to year however for last two years Tinkune has been a reliable place as the tigers like to cool down here in the evenings especially when the temperatures warm up in the month of April. It also seems with the recent closure of a tented camp inside the National Park this has minimised the disturbance experienced by the wild animals so overall improved the chance of viewings.

Photo: Tinkune in Bardia National Park

Overall I gather the best months for seeing tiger are March and April as the grass is short after cutting and burning in January. In fact grass management in the Park is important for the ecosystem and these days the Park rangers organise controlled burns in January and also local villagers are allowed into the Park for three days in January to cut the grass for use in constructing and repairing the walls of their houses. As a result the grass regrows with juicy green shoots so there is more food for the deer therefore in turn encouraging healthy growth in the tiger population.

About 70% of Bardia National Park is covered in sal forest and the rest made up of grassland and riverine forest. As mentioned above one of the reasons why it is generally easier to see tiger in Bardia is due to the more open areas of sal forest and grassland and less coverage of riverine forest. It is far more difficult to see tiger in the densely vegetated riverine forest more prevalent in Chiwan National Park.

During my visit to Bardia I saw several gharial and marsh mugger crocodiles during an enjoyable day spent rafting down Karnali river from Chisapani. There are also Gangetic dolphin on this stretch of river however unfortunately we did not see any of these from the raft. In the Park there are also wild elephants and from recent surveys their population is healthy at around 65. Bardia also has the world's only surviving wild population of a type of deer known as the blackbuck.

Photo: wild elephant

Photo: gharial crocodile

Photo: marsh mugger crocodile

The other advantage of Bardia over Chitwan is visitor numbers are still relatively low so it feels less crowded however of course as it is now well known that Tinkune is a reliable place to see tiger so there will certainly be several others waiting patiently in the mornings and evenings for the tiger to make an appearance. The environment around Bardia is less developed with almost all the buildings constructed using local techniques with clay and grass and luckily at present very few concrete hotels and guesthouses.

Overall I had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Bardia National Park and of course it was a special experience to finally see a tiger in the wild. If you have the budget and the time I would certainly recommend you make the effort to visit Bardia National Park however there is no doubt Chitwan National Park is also a good place too so it really depends on what type of experience you are looking for. 

Please get in touch with us at The Mountain Company if you would like any further information about Bardia and Chitwan National Parks in Nepal, we can then help you organise a trip and choose the lodges that have all been reviewed by us.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk