History of Jim Corbett National Park: - The area of Jim Corbett fell in the united province during the English rule, it was during the English rule that a plan was envisaged to demarcate the forest area as a protected forest. Sir Malcolm Hailley was the governor of the United Province when a national park was created thus it was named after the governor as Hailey national park (1936) it only covered an area of 323 square kilometers. After independence the name was changed to Jim Corbett national park in 1955-56 after the famous naturalist Jim Corbett. Jim Corbett had played an important pivotal role in setting up of the Hailley national park in 1936. Jim Corbett was an English man who was extremely popular in this area as he himself killed the infamous man eater tigers of Kumaon.
Location of Jim Corbett: - Jim Corbett is a famous wild life sanctuary in India it is famous for its population of Royal Bengal Tigers, it is ideally located in the terai region of Himalayan foothills with a rich flora and fauna. The park is a weekend gateway destination from the national capital Delhi, It takes a drive of not more than six hours to reach the Jim Corbett national park from Delhi.
Jim Corbett By Road – Ramnagar is the nearest town to the Corbett national park. Delhi is around 260 kms from Ramnagar, the state capital of Uttarakhand- Dehradun is around 225kms while Lucknow is around 400 kms, and Ramnagar is well connected with other cities via good roads.
Jim Corbett By By Train - Ramnagar is the nearest train station to the Jim Corbett. This small city has many trains stopping Ranikhet express, Kathgodam Express, Corbett link express etc.
Jim Corbett By Air - The Pantnagar airport is the nearest domestic airport from Jim Corbett national park, Pantnagar airport does not have very good connectivity so Jolly grant airport at Dehradun is the best national airport in vicinity of the Jim Corbett national park. The nearest international airport is the Indira Gandhi International airport at New Delhi this is around 270 kms from the Jim Corbett National Park.
Weather at Jim Corbett National Park - The north India plains just under the Himalayan mountains have plenty of water flowing down the rivers as the snow melts in the hot summer months The monsoon activity is quite vigorous and good rainfall is recorded during the months of July August September every year. The winters are cold but normally the days are sunny, Fog is a normal phenomenon in this part of the country. Minimum temperature during the winters can go down to 0 degree Celsius combined with fog and humid conditions it makes it very cold. The summers are quite hot with the temperature scaling to the arena of 40 degree Celsius the minimum though even in summers remains pleasant around 25 degree Celsius.
Best Time to visit Jim Corbett - It depends what the goal is to visit Jim Corbett, if you are visiting Jim Corbett to sight the Royal Bengal tiger then best time to do the same is between February to May. The animal in winters are not easy to be spotted due to dense fog while in February march the trees and other flora shed leaves making the sighting easy and ready. The best sighting time are the mornings and the evenings when the animals go to waterholes for drinking water later in the day they spend time in lethargy. Monsoon time the park is closed for tourists activities.
Jim Corbett Flora and Fauna - Jim Corbett the forest is very rich in flora and fauna there are more than 600 species of plants and animals. Royal Bengal Tiger is the most famous animal species this forest is famous for. The Jim Corbett national park is also famous for its rich treasure of bird species there are more than 600 bird species which can be spotted at the Jim Corbett national park. The tall trees of Saal, Sheesham, and khair abound the forest area, the bamboo is also very abundant, Semal, ber can also be seen.
Mammals in the Jim Corbett - Royal Bengal Tiger, leopard, Asiatic elephants, barking deer, Chital. Sambhar, Wild Boar, Black faced monkeys (langoor) Macaques, Jackal, Otters, Asiatic black bear, sloth bear, hog deer ,hyenas etc abound in Corbett national park.
Reptiles - Alligators, Crocodiles, snakes like- King Cobra, common crait, Rock python, Russel viper etc, Monitor lizards.
Birds - Fish owl, white backed vulture, Fish eagle, Bush cat etc.
Jim Corbett Forest Zones - The jim Corbett forest area is divided in to five zones-
Bijrani Zone - This is the nearest to the Rampur city and is most frequented by the tourists, the zone has high probability of sighting the royal Bengal Tigers. The zone is a real dense forest with wide open grasslands.
Durgadevi Zone - This zone is particularly famous for its rich avian population. The avid ornithologist love the Durgadevi zone, the jeep safari is operated in this zone; this zone also has a rich fish variety.
Dhikala Zone - This zone is also good for sighting the royal Bengal tiger the tiger can be sighted chasing its prey in the open grasslands of Dhikala.
Jherna Zone - This zone is open for the tourist activity round the year, though not very rich in flora and fauna but there are chances of sighting the royal Bengal tiger at Jherna Zone this zone was added to the Jim Corbett in year 1994.
Dhela Zone - This is the latest addition to the Jim Corbett national park the Dhela Zone was added recently in 2014, its more famous for its avian population. This is also a buffer zone for the Jim Corbett national park.
