Flora in Nagarhole National Park

Bandipur’s northern neighbor, Nagarhole (“Snake River”) National Park, extends 640 square kms north from the Kabini River. The river was dammed in 1974 to form a charming artificial lagoon. During the dry season (Feb-June), this perennial water source attracts large numbers of animals, making it a potentially major spot for sighting wildlife. The forest here is of the moist-deciduous type – thick jungle with a thirty-metre-high canopy – and more remarkable than Bandipur’s drier scrub.

Arikeri, Hatgat and Nalkeri reserve forests are part of the Nagarhole National Park. It is also extended to the adjoining Mysore reserve forests. The landscape is undulating with several permanent and seasonal streams and tanks. Once an exclusive hunting preserve of the erstwhile rulers of Mysore, the terrain of this Park is gently undulating with lush green vegetation and swamps. The dry as well as the moist deciduous forests mainly having teak and eucalyptus trees cover the whole of the Nagarhole National Park.