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Bannerghatta Park, a huge patch of lush cover, is where Bangaloreans
get up close and personal with nature.
It's a jungle out there. Truly. The Bannerghatta National Park is
25,473.08 acres of lush green forest cover, around 20 km from the
epicentre of IT city. It's a rich contrast to the Garden City that
grows more gray by the day and is the only protected forest area
located close to any of the capital cities in India.
Taxonomically, the forest is categorised as thorny scrub, dry deciduous
and moist deciduous complex forest interspersed with rocky outcrops.
According to biodiversity experts, the Bannerghatta forest area
is a very sensitive region as it is one of the safest elephant corridors
in the country, allowing the transit of hundreds of elephants every
year. It is also home to several hundred Asian elephants, sambhar,
spotted deer, wild dogs, sloth bears, leopards, jungle cats and
monitor lizards. The national park also has about 250 species of
birds, 20 species of snakes and 150 species of butterflies along
with 220 species of plants and trees.
But developing a forest area and declaring it a national park was
not easy for the forest department and the government. Years of
effort finally paid off with Bannerghatta being declared a national
park in 1974, three years after the concept of national parks was
introduced.
Catering to people's needs, the forest department converted a part
of the National Park into a picnic and recreational spot which,
after 2000, was notified as the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP).
According to M Nanjundaswamy, chairman of the Zoo Authority of Karnataka,
"BBP is spread over 733 hectares and divided into five different
units - zoo, safari, butterfly park, rescue centre and the Born
Free Foundation."
The zoo has an exotic collection of reptiles, mammals and birds
of 72 different species. The famous attractions here include the
Thamin deer, hog deer, king cobra, Himalayan black bear and Malabar
giant squirrel. The rescue centre is perhaps one of the largest
in South India and known the world over for its conservation work.
Tigers and lions rescued from circuses are brought here while tigers
rescued from international circus companies are rehabilitated at
the Born Free Foundation.
Apart from these two centres, visitors are allowed to visit the
other units. In fact, it is the BBP - particularly the safaris -
that today attracts the attention of visitors from all over the
world. The Herbivore Safari features animals like the Indian gaur,
barking deer and Neel Gai while the Bear Safari has as many as 95
sloth bears. The tiger and lion safari is an opportunity to see
37 Royal Bengal tigers, 22 lions and seven white tigers.
Apart from this, the Champakadhama Swamy temple at the Suvarnamukhi
area of the park attracts hundreds of devotees every year. The forest
area is also associated with several local legends. Historians say
the park is believed to have housed the settlements of ancient tribes.
Several elliptical stone and pebble structures and stone graves
interspersed all around bear this theory out. There are others who
consider it a part of the then Dandakaranya of Thretayuga or the
forest where Lord Ram lived while in exile.
 Did you know?
* Bannerghatta Biological Park has the highest concentration of
carnivorous animals in the country.
* India's first butterfly park was opened at Bannerghatta Biological
Park in November 2006.
* Bannerghatta was once part of Thretayuga's Dandakaranya, the forest
where Lord Ram lived while in exile
Source: BangaloreMirror
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