part
of a larger national park, which also includes the neighbouring wildlife
sanctuaries, of Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu and Wynad in Kerala. This sanctuary
is one of the 15 sanctuaries selected across India for Project Tiger, a
scheme launched in 1973, by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, to save the
tiger and its habitat. Located on the highway connecting Mysore and Ooty, at
the foothills of the western Ghats, Bandipur is truly a common man's
getaway.In 1931, Bandipur was a sanctuary spanning an area of only 90 sq kms. In 1941, it was stretched to about 800 sq kms and named the Venugopal Wildlife Park after the royal deity, Venugopala, worshipped by the Maharajas of Mysore. Today, Bandipur National Park, together with the Mudumalai Sanctuary in the south, the Nagarhole National Park in the north-west and the Wynad Sanctuary of Kerala in the south-west, forms the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
Covered with a mix of deciduous forests, evergreen forests and scrub, and well - irrigated by the Moyar river, Bandipur has a fairly open forest area, making it easy for vistors to spot wildlife. This sanctuary sprawls over an area of 880 sq. kilometres. The prominent fauna of this reserve, include the Asian elephant, gaur, sambar, chital, spotted deer, barking deer, mouse deer, four horned antelope, wild boar, black naped hare, Indian porcupine and the elusive tiger. According to a 1993 census, there are 66 tigers and more than 1900 elephants. Bandipur is also inhabited by a variety of birds.
The river Moyar, one of the three rivers flowing through the Park, acts as a boundary between the Park and the Mudumalai Sanctuary. The Moyar gorge is 260 metres deep and provides a fabulous view of the surroundings