Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal

                       Fast view

Address                                   :-   Near Upper Lake , Bhopal
Opened                             :-  1983
Distance from Bhopal Station   :-  9  KM
Famous for                               :-  Zoological park, birding place, Natural attraction
Total Average visitor in A day  :-  200
Timing                                     :-   8 AM  to 6 PM
Entry Fee                                 :-  20/- 
Area                                                  :-  4.45 km²

A Langur mother with her baby

 INTRODUCTION

Van Vihar is National Park located adjacent to Upper Lake of Bhopal city at  Madhya Pradesh in Central India. It is spread over an area of 4.43 sq. km. area and was declared as a National Park in year 1983. Although it is a declared National Park, but on visit you will find it more a Zoological Park. It has been developed and managed as a zoological park in which wild animals were caged in a their natural surrounding. It is a important part of Bhopal local sightseeing. 

Tiger is main attraction on van vihar

This land is under strict protection, due to it has now transformed into an island full of greenery surrounded by habitation. Van Vihar serves as green lung for the capital town of Madhya Pradesh. It harbors herbivores like Chital, Sambar, and blue bull under free ranging condition and the animals like tiger, lion, leopard, hyena, crocodile and gharial under captive condition. The landscape of the area has led to the designing of enclosures in a fashion that serves the objective of fostering a positive man-animal relationship. Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has granted recognition to Van Vihar as medium size Zoo during q994. The adjoining upper lake adds immense beauty to the landscape of Van Vihar. The lake enlivens the park particularly when thousands of migratory birds land in the lake at the onset of winter.

Birds is going.......photo by Ajay Digarse

History

About two decades back, a number of illegal stone quarries were operational in the area and being in the serene and beautiful location on the bank of big lake, many commercial organizations were trying to take hold of this valuable piece of land. Realizing importance of both in-situ and ex-situ conservation of wild fauna, it was decided to provide this area a legal umbrella under the Wildlife (protection) Act, 1972. A committee of experts was constituted to decide the modalities for constitution of this area as a Protected Area. An area of 4.4521 km² was notified as National Park in the year 1983 as per the committee's recommendation.

whistling teal birds

Out of the 4.4521 km² of land, an area 3.8839 km² was government revenue land and rest belonged to the villagers of Prempura, Dharampuri and Amkheda. A compensation of Rs. 23.52 lakhs was paid to villagers to acquire 0.5692 km² of private holdings. After the constitution of National Park, such acquired area was enclosed in succession with stonewall and chain link fence. Efforts of protection and habitat improvement measures resulted in its enrichment in a very short period of time.

The degraded hillock of Shyamla Hill along with private village land was initiated in 1980 and finally notified as a national park in 1983. Funding from Central Zoo Authority started in 1993-94 and also granted Van Vihar as a medium sized zoo on the same year. With the dedicated efforts of the park management, this area has now been transformed into an oasis of greenery. The area today serves as the green lung for Bhopal City.

Birding

A separate area has been allocated in the park as bird's habitat that includes ponds, bushes and grasslands that attract birds. Many migratory birds arrive here during winters. Birding area of van vihar includes almost the entire area alongside the main road but prominently the bird sanctuary. 

Van vihars richness in avifauna lies in the fact that in a single day about 40-50 bird species can be spotted. Right from the gate you can start seeing wagtails, hoopoes, prinias and as you enter warblers, coucals and bulbuls welcome you. As we move further, water birds start appearing as you see herons, cormorants and waterhens. 

Pied kingfisher hovering above the water and Indian rollers with their fantastic courtship displays provide moments that are always cherished by the birders. A good binocular enables you to see birds on the other side of the lake or flying above. Terns can be seen covering a large area over the lake. 

FLORA

A beer

The vegetation was in highly degraded condition and belong to southern dry deciduous scrub forests. The main species found here are Bel (Aegle marmelos), Amaltas (Cassia fistula), Babul (Acacia nilotica), Reunjha (Acacia leucophloea), Doodhi (Writea tinctoria), Lendia (Lagerstromia parviflora), Saja (Terminalia alata), Amla (Emblica officinalis), 

and Tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon). In the closed areas of fodder farm and plantation, different palatable grasses like Chrysopogon fulvus, Themeda triandra, Heteropogon contortus, 

Dicanthium annulatum, Chloris dolichostachia, etc. are coming up. Hilly portion of Park is heavily infested with Lantana, whereas lower plains with Parthenium and Cassia tora weeds.

organismo

A Python is sleeping 

Van Vihar NP houses a variety of herbivores and carnivores. While the herbivores are free ranging, the carnivores are housed in large enclosures. The carnivores include tiger, lion (Panthera leo), panther (Panthera pardus), Hyena (Hyaena hyaena), and sloth bear (Melursus ursinus). The albino sloth bear and the white tiger are the star attraction of Van Vihar.

A rat snake

 The herbivores include sambar (Cervus unicolor), Chital (Axis axis), Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), Chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis), Common langur (Presbytis entellus) Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), Wild boar (Sus scrofa), Porcupine (Hystrix indica), Hare (Lepus nigricollis), etc. In addition, the park also houses gharial (Gavialis gangticus), crocodile (Crocodilus palustris), Turtle (Trionyx gangeticus), Star tortoise (Geochelone elegans), and python (Python molurus). Tiger, panther and crocodile have bred successfully under captive conditions in the park.

FAUNA

Till now, about two hundred species of birds have been listed in Van Vihar. Large numbers of birds frequent this park, especially during the winter. 

The migratory waterfowl alight in great numbers in the adjoining extensive wetland of big lake. The upper lake, on the southwestern 

boundary of Van Vihar is the abode of wide array of avian fauna. More than 40 species of migratory birds visit this area during the winter. 

A Siyar

The average count may be as much as 20, 000 water birds at a time. Some of the important winter visitors are pintail, spotbill, brahminy duck, gadwall, red crested pochard, barheaded goose, cotton teal, spoonbill, painted stork and purple heron. The aviary inside Van Vihar swarm during the winter with hundreds of winged creatures which is a great attraction for bird watchers. A solitary black necked stork has been regularly sighted for 

the last two winters. Rare sightings of brown headed stork and black capped kingfisher have also been reported. A pair of white stork, which had no previous sighting records in Bhopal, was seen during the summers of 2001. Apart from this, common pariah kite, great horned owl, Shikra, Marsh harrier, tawny eagle and kestrel are some of the important birds of prey. The scavenger vulture is common in the park especially during the summers. The upper lake of Bhopal has also been included in the IBA (Important Bird Areas) list of Birdlife International coordinated by BNHS.

 This video captured from Van vihar, Bhopal here a rat snake trying to hidden from camera.   Indian rat snakes are large snakes and their colour varies from pale browns in dry regions to nearly black in moist forest areas. They are frequently found in urban areas where rodents thrive.