Kishanpur Sanctuary is located in Kishanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. It is a part of the famous Dudhwa Tiger Reserve located near the town of Mailani. The Sanctuary is sprawled in an area of 227 sq km that features open meadows and Terai forest.

The Sanctuary offers an amazing variety of flora and fauna; so is the best place to be for wildlife enthusiasts. Main attractions of this place are swamp deer and tiger.

History

Kishanpur Sanctuary was founded in 1972. In 1976, Bill Arjan Singh, an Indian conservationist, brought a hand-reared Bengal tigress in the Sanctuary. This was to prove wrong the common belief that zoo-bred tigers cannot survive in the wild.

In mid-1980, officials reintroduced Indian Rhinoceros in Dudhwa. It was brought from Assam and Nepal. In 1984, officials of the Sanctuary rediscovered a rare Hispid Hare in the place. This animal was believed to have become extinct.

Wildlife

Apart from swamp deer and tiger, other animals found in Kishanpur Sanctuary include barking deer, leopard, lesser florican, Bengal florican, hog deer, spotted deer, sambar deer, wild boar, gharial, sloth bear, rhinoceros, jackal, jungle cat, civet, ratel, fishing cat, and more.

Kishanpur Sanctuary houses about 400 species of birds. This includes great slaty woodpecker, swamp francolin, and Bengal florican. The Sanctuary welcomes several migratory birds like black and white necked storks, woodpeckers, kingfishers, barbets, bee-eaters, minivans, bulbuls, sarus cranes, and a variety of night birds of prey.

The Sanctuary has more than 90 species of fish.

The Dudhwa National Park features about half of the world’s barasinghas.

Climate

The maximum temperature here goes up to 40.6 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature dips down to 3.5 degree Celsius.

Accommodation

Kishanpur, Mailani, and Bhira feature forest rest houses for tourists. It is good to book in advance from the forest department.

Attractions

As mentioned earlier, swamp deer and tiger are two major attractions of Kishanpur Sanctuary. Another attraction is the Sal forest, which is regarded as one of the finest in India. Some of the trees are more than 150 years old and soar about 70 feet high.

When in Kishanpur Sanctuary it is hard to miss Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Dudhwa houses about 1 per cent of the total tiger population of India. According to an estimate, the reserve has 1600 swamp deer and 98 tigers at present.

Best Time to Visit

Tourists must come to this place from October to April. Months of February to April are excellent. Winters are best to catch a glimpse of exotic migratory birds.

How to Reach

Mailani is the nearest railway station. Kishanpur and Mailani are linked through roadways to all cities of Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is about 200 km from Mailani.