Bandipur, a modest township of the Gundlupet Taluq in the Chamarajanagar District of the state of Karnataka is a home to one of the most extolled nature preserves of India; Bandipur National Park, which, within its protected precincts provides a secured haven to over 5000 wild animals. Priding on its dense populace of royal Bengal tigers and boasting of its almost 1/5th population of the Asiatic Elephants in the whole world, the Bandipur National Park together with its neighboring Mudumalai National Park, Nagarhole National Park and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary comprises a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve; the first biosphere reserve of India. Reposed at the foothills of the staggering Blue Mountains (the Nilgiris) and clasped at the point where the Deccan Plateau and the Western Ghats meet, the Bandipur National Park covering an extensive area of 874 square kilometers is characterized with contrasting geographical facets including dry deciduous forests, shrub lands and moist deciduous forests. This biome divergence and the varying altitude of the park (ranging between 680 meters and 1454 meters) support a comprehensive spectrum of life forms both pertaining to flora and fauna. Nurtured by Kabini, Moyar & Nugu Rivers and other seasonal streams the Bandipur terrain is particularly famous for its sandalwood, rosewood, teakwood and other aromatic & hardwood timbers. Located just 48 kilometers from Ooty, 79 kilometers from Mysore and about 219 kilometers from Bangalore, the Bandipur National Park and Tiger Reserve receives a huge influx of tourists all through the year. The jungle safaris operated at the Bandipur National Park carry you through the internal recesses of this sylvan sanctuary and yield you an extraordinary opportunity to observe some of the most endangered and vulnerable wild animals of India residing safely within their natural habitat.

During the Pre Independence Era, the present day Bandipur National Park prevailed as a special hunting ground where the Maharajas of Mysore and their honored guests used to revel in their favorite sport of game hunting. In the year 1931, the Maharaja of Mysore acknowledged these hunting grounds as a game refuge and about 35 square miles of the total stretch was deemed a wildlife conservation area, naming it the ‘Venugopala Wildlife Park’. During the later years the Venugopala Wildlife Park was expanded and nearly 800 square miles were added to this zoological asylum. Soon after, it was also rechristened as the ‘Bandipur National Park’. With the launching of the ‘Project Tiger’ in the year 1973, the Bandipur National Park’ was brought under this program and made the ‘Bandipur Tiger Reserve’. The Bandipur Tiger Reserve happens to be one of the first seven national parks to be covered under the ‘Project Tiger’ of India.