# Chitwan National Park

Chitwan National Park (CNP), established in 1973, is a national park of Nepal. CNP, originally named the Royal Chitwan National Park, was selected in 1984 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In 2006, 543 bird species were recorded in CNP.

## Quotes

* In Nepal's Chitwan National Park, leopards and tigers coexist by hunting at different times and for different prey, as well as by utilizing different vegetation complexes (Seidensticker 1976).
** Kristin Nowell and Peter Jackson, Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Volume 25 of IUCN/SSC action plans for the conservation of biological diversity. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 1996. p. 79. ISBN 2831700450.
* Wildlife attacks on people in and around protected areas have become one of the main challenges for wildlife management authorities. We assessed all correlates of wildlife attacks during 2003–2013 in the vicinity of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. We used data from various sources (discussion with stakeholders, field observations, questionnaire surveys). Wildlife attacks were significantly correlated to factors such as site, season and time, activity, gender and awareness. Moreover, 89% of recorded attacks occurred outside the Park. The number of attacks fluctuated widely and patterns of attacks were significantly uneven across seasons and months. Of the 87% of attacks that occurred during the day, 63% occurred in the morning. Most victims were male and c. 45% of attacks occurred when people were collecting forest resources or working on croplands. Attacks were carried out predominantly by rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis (38%), tigers Panthera tigris (21%), sloth bears Melursus ursinus (18%), elephants Elephas maximus (9%) and wild boar Sus scrofa (8%). The people attacked lived close to the Park, depended on farming for their livelihoods, and had little knowledge of animal behaviour. Attacks can be mitigated through proper management of habitats inside the Park and raising awareness of wildlife behaviour among local people. We recommend establishing a participatory emergency rescue team to deal with problematic animals in high-risk areas.
** Thakur Silwal, Jaromir Kolejka, Bharat P. Bhatia, Santos Rayamajhi, Ram P. Sharma, and Buddi S. Poudel, (April 2017)"When, where and whom: assessing wildlife attacks on people in Chitwan National Park, Nepal". Oryx 51 (2): 370–377. DOI:10.1017/S0030605315001489.
* The western Chitwan Valley of Nepal lies at 120–815 m elevation in the subtropical Terai region of Nepal, characterized by elongated valleys created by faults within the foothills of the actively uplifting Himalaya plateau (Lehmkuhl 1994). Much of the area was deforested and settled in the 1950s and 1960s, and today the 250-km$^2$ western Chitwan Valley is home to over 200,000 individuals (Central Bureau of Statistics – Nepal 2016). While the northern region is intensively cultivated, the southern and western regions are dominated by CNP, a 932-km$^2$ UNESCO World Heritage Site established in 1973 and internationally recognized for its largely intact primary forests, grasslands and habitats for endangered and vulnerable, charismatic mammal species. CNP is home to the vulnerable one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicorns) and endangered Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) (Spiteri & Nepal 2008). The Forest Act 1993 created the existing community forest (CF) system – a type of decentralized, locally governed forest management – to prevent habitat degradation and to sustain the quality of life for growing numbers of buffer zone (the area surrounding CNP) residents (Nagendra 2002). This arrangement allows for residents to legally collect resources from CF areas while CNP is rendered off-limits (Jones 2007).
** Scott T. Yabiku, Abigail Sullivan, Abigail M. York, Qunshan Zhao, Jennifer E. Glick, Sharon J. Hall, Dirgha J. Ghimire, and Li An, (7 April 2022)"Drivers of prohibited natural resource collection in Chitwan National Park, Nepal". Environmental Conservation 49 (2): 114–121. DOI:10.1017/s0376892922000121.

## External links

* Encyclopedic article on Chitwan National Park on Wikipedia
* Chitwan National Park (chitwananationalpark.gov.np).