Ratapani tiger reserve madhya pradesh

The Ratapani Tiger Reserve is located in the Vindhya Range, Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh. The forest area covers a total area of 823.84 sq km. One can spot the forest while on the way from Bhopal to Pachmarhi hill station. There are two major reservoirs as waterbodies inside or adjacent to the sanctuary ? namely Barna Reservoir and Ratapani Dam (also known as BarrusotLake).Worth mentioning is the Bhimbetka rock shelters located inside the tiger reserve which is declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

RatapaniTiger Reserve experiences moderate climate. Winters begin in November and stays till February with a temperature ranging between 5 degree Celsius to 18 degree Celsius. Summers are between April and June, and difficult to travel around during this season when the maximum temperature soars high till 45 degree Celsius in May and June. Monsoon arrives at the end of June or July beginning with adequate rainfall and stays till October. The reserve is strictly shut down during these few months.

The day and night temperatures significantly vary in Ratapani Tiger Reserve due to the demographic location of the place where sunlight falls directly making the temperate go up and down swiftly with the onset of day and night. One can experience this temperature shift during morning safari drives when the journey begins just before sunrise and exits after sunrise.

Ratapani Tiger Reserve is open for tourists only from October to June, while for the rest of the months it is shut down by order for tourists due to heavy monsoon and bad road conditions. Additionally, the reserve is closed on Wednesdays, and on selected festivals. The best time to visit the park is from November to April.

The main attraction of the region is tiger, while other carnivores include leopard, dhole, hyena, jackal and fox and the herbivores include chital, sambar, nilgai, four horned antelope, langur, rhesus monkey, sloth bearand wild boar. One can also spot smaller animals like squirrels, mongooses, gerbils, porcupines, hare, etc and reptiles including different kinds of lizards and chameleon. Snakes are commonly found and the major species are cobra, python, viper, krait to name a few.

Avifauna is wide and rich with more than 150 species of birds. The most popularly spotted are the common babbler, crimson-breasted barbet, bulbul, bee-eater, baya, cuckoo, kingfisher, kite, lark, Bengal vulture, sunbird, white wagtail, crow pheasant, jungle crow, egrets, myna, jungle fowl, parakeets, partridges, hoopoe, quails, woodpeckers, blue jay, dove, black drongo, flycatcher, flower pecker and rock pigeon.