Anshi National Park, located in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district is a must-visit place for the nature lover. This part of the state has Goa at its borders. Some of the animals found in common numbers are Indian elephants, black panthers and Bengal tigers, apart from some and almost extinct species.

If you are an animal lover, you will find that Anshi National Park is the place to be. The beauty of this place is truly incredible. Some of the exotic species of flora found here are bauhinia, eucalyptus, teak, bamboo, silver oak, xyliaxylocarpa and other varieties. This national park is set up at an area of around340 sq.km. These mountain peaks add beauty to the national park. The range of altitude of the peaks found here varies between 27 and 927m. This area receives a large amount of rainfall, but the soils have heavy laterite content due to which water doesn’t get accumulated here. Many bore well pumps are constructed inside the park, to cater to the park’s water needs.

History

It was during 10th May 1956 that the forests of this area were declared as the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary. The State Government had plans to set aside one portion of the sanctuary to form the Anshi National Park. This plan was implemented during 2nd September 1987. When plans for the national park were formulated, the total area that was planned was around 250 sqkm. The final notifications came during 2002 and during this time, the area proposed for the park increased to 340 sqkm. Today, one can spot a large number of nuclear power stations and hydro-electric projects in this park.

Geography

The Anshi National Park is inclined at about 14.54 and 15.07 degrees towards the North latitude and at 74.16 and 74.30 degrees towards the East longitude. The mountain peaks of Anshi National park vary between 27 and 927m in height. The nature of the soil is laterite in nature due to which it becomes dry very easily, in spite of the area receiving heavy rainfall all through the year. The soil is not able to retain water for a long period of time here.

Wildlife

Flora

The Anshi National Park is located between the montane forests and moist deciduous forests of North Western Ghats. The WWF (World Wide Fund for nature) have classified these forests as almost endangered. There is a high biodiversity around this area.

The most common species of plants that are found here are Malabar tamarind, Hopeawightiana, Tetramelesnudiflora, Flacourtia (Montana), Aini-maram, 'bintangur', Calophyllum (wightianum), GarciniaMorella, Knemaattenuate , Carallia (brachiata), Eucalyptus, Lantana, true cinnamon, Bamboo, Jamba, teak and silver oak.

Fauna

Though there are quite a few black panthers, tigers and elephants here in the park, you can only spot them quite rarely. Other common mammals found here are bonnet macaque, grey langur of the Northern Plains, sloth bear, wild boars and bisons from India, gray slender loris, sambar deer, musk deer, mouse deer and spotted deer.
A large variety of giant squirrels, gray mongoose from India, leopard cat, small civet from India, jackal, wild dog, flying squirrels, porcupine, Malabar civet and pangolin are found here in various areas of the park. This park is also home to some huge reptiles like monitor lizards, viper with saw-scales, rock python from India, Vine and Rat Snakes, spectacled cobra, king cobra, krait, Pit Vipers that are green in color and Bamboo vipers.

The bird population of this park includes varieties like grey hornbills from Malabar, pied hornbill from Malabar, Ceylon frogmouth, Fairy bluebird from Asia, grey hornbills from India etc. At least 200 species of birds belonging to pitta with blue heads, bulbuls with black crests, wood shallows in ash color, roller with broad bills, adjutant storks, serpent eagle in the shape of crescent, woodpeckers with golden backs, frog mouths from Sri Lanka, green pigeons with yellow foot, Brahminy kites and many more.

Best Time to Visit

The months between March and October are the best for visiting this park. The beauty of the park is at its best and wild animals are sighted here commonly during this time.

Visitor Information

The park is open from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening. The Kulgi nature camp is a good accommodation option. Common tents and deluxe tents that have 2 beds each and dormitories with 16 beds each are found here. You can contact the head of this camp, Mr. Santosh. Mammal trail, Bird Trail and Kulgi trail that stretch up to 3km are most-visited places in this area. Boating, white water rafting, canoeing, trekking and jakoozie are some of the activities that can be done here. You can enjoy some lip-smacking local delicacies here.

How to Reach

Rail, road or air can be used for reaching the park. At 55 km distance, Karwar railway station is the nearest. Dharwad airport, at a distance of 106km away, is the nearest airport to this place. Buses are available from Pune, Bangalore, Belgaum, Mumbai and Karwar frequently on a daily basis. The main city of Bangalore is located a distance of 590km from here.