Bandipur National Park

Four Milestones

• 1931: the Maharaja of Mysore creates the Venugopala Wildlife Park, a 90 sq km sanctuary.
• 1973: nearly 800 sq km is added under Project Tiger, creating Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
• 1974: the reserve is upgraded and renamed Bandipur National Park.
• 1986: Bandipur becomes part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India’s largest protected-area complex.

A Royal Hunting Ground Turned Tiger Reserve

Bandipur National Park sits in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka. It’s at the tri-junction of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. It began in 1931, as the Maharaja of Mysore’s 90 sq km Venugopala Wildlife Park. In 1973, nearly 800 sq km was added under Project Tiger, creating Bandipur Tiger Reserve. It was renamed Bandipur National Park in 1974. Its core area covers 872.24 sq km. The full Tiger Reserve, with its buffer zone, covers 1,469.69 sq km.

• A biosphere reserve: Bandipur has been part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve since 1986, itself India’s first, and its largest protected-area complex, spanning Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
• Global recognition: UNESCO also recognises the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve internationally, as part of its World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
• A notable endemic: the reserve’s higher elevations shelter the endangered Nilgiri tahr, found nowhere outside these hills.

India’s Second-Highest Tiger Count

The 2022 tiger census recorded 150 tigers within the reserve. That’s the second-highest count in India, after Corbett. Bandipur also holds Karnataka’s largest elephant population: 1,116 elephants, per the 2023 count. Regular elephant censuses here provide some of India’s most detailed long-term data on wild elephant populations.

A Contiguous Forest Tract

Bandipur adjoins Mudumalai (Tamil Nadu), Wayanad (Kerala), and Nagarahole (Karnataka). Together, these form one of the largest contiguous forest tracts in South Asia. The park sits where the Deccan Plateau meets the Western Ghats, with elevation ranging from 680 m to 1,454 m. The Kabini River borders the park to the north, and the Moyar River to the south. The Nugu River runs through it.

• A tourism hub: the Kabini reservoir, just outside the park, is a popular wildlife-viewing spot, with wildlife gathering along its shrinking dry-season shoreline.
• The world’s largest elephant population: Bandipur, Nagarahole, Mudumalai, Wayanad, and Sathyamangalam together hold the world’s single largest wild Asian elephant population. This is often called the Nilgiri-Eastern Ghats elephant landscape.
• Why scale matters: this combined landscape is large enough to support genetically viable elephant populations over the long term. It’s often cited as a benchmark for large-mammal conservation planning elsewhere.

Forest, Fauna, and a Busy Highway

Bandipur has a mix of dry deciduous, moist deciduous, and shrub forest. Teak, rosewood, and sandalwood are among its timber species. Besides tigers and elephants, it hosts gaur, sloth bears, four-horned antelope, and dhole (Asian wild dogs), plus mugger crocodiles and a wide range of birds. A national highway runs through the park, connecting Mysuru and Ooty. Night traffic on this stretch is banned, to protect wildlife.

Five Decades of Gains, and Growing Conflict

Bandipur’s tiger population has grown many times over since Project Tiger began in 1973. That reflects five decades of sustained conservation gains. But rising human-elephant and human-tiger conflict on the park’s edges is now a real management challenge. It sits alongside these successes, not apart from them.

A Phased Reopening, Then Full Resumption

Safaris had been halted since 7 November 2025, after a series of fatal wildlife attacks, including a farmer killed by a tiger in Mysuru district. On 19 February 2026, Karnataka began a phased resumption of safaris at Bandipur. It cut safari duration from 8 hours to 5, with only 50% of vehicles allowed in the first phase. Then on 27 June 2026, Karnataka fully reopened jungle safaris at Bandipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserves, based on a scientifically assessed carrying capacity.