Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh (Visit in 2024) | Ratapani Tiger Reserve

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary or Ratapani Tiger Reserve is a popular tourist destination in Bhopal City, Madhya Pradesh, among the family vacationers

Do you want to visit Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary? Why is Ratapani famous?

I’m Somraj Mondal, the Content Developer at indianchacha.com. In this blog post, I will show you the complete details of the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary.

Here, you will know about,

  • Ratapani Tiger Reserve
  • Ratapani wildlife 
  • Wildlife of the Sanctuary
  • Adventurous Things to do
  • And, much more information

So, let’s get started.

Overview of Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary or Ratapani Tiger Reserve is located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, India. With a Forest area of 824 square kilometers, the landscape of the Sanctuary is rugged with hills, valleys, plateaus, and plains.

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is established in 1976. After the approval of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the Sanctuary is known as the Ratapani Tiger Reserve. This RatapanI Wildlife Sanctuary is rich in flora and fauna and a wide variety of birds and mammals.

The forest of this Sanctuary is of dry deciduous and moist deciduous types, teak is the dominant tree species. 55% part of the forest is covered by teak. Bhimbetka rock shelter is located within this tiger reserve. UNESCO also declared the area ad World Heritage Site.

Ratapani Tiger Reserve

National Tiger Conservation Authority given in-principle approval for the creation of tiger reserves in Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary in March.2013. There are around 40 Tigers are found in the Sanctuary.

Fauna of the Sanctuary

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is rich in wildlife typical of central India.  There are more than 150 species of Birds found in the Sanctuary. Though, there is not much work has been done on Watching in the Sanctuary.

In the sanctuary, you can get a chance to see Oriental white-backed vultures, long-billed vultures, and red-headed vultures roosting in tree trunks or climbing to great heights in search of food.

In winter, there are many Migratory Birds that come to Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary  There are many small reservoirs throughout the sanctuary. The total population of waterfowl in all these small reservoirs and the Ratapani reservoir would easily exceed 20000

Water hubs of the places are the feeding and Living places of many Birds like stork cranes, white-throated storks, painted storks, black-throated storks, and many more. The rich diversity of terrestrial species across the sanctuary calls for a proper bird survey of the area. Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary holds the best representative forest cover of the Indo-Malayan tropical arid zoneRatapani is home to 33 of the 59 bird species identified by BirdLife International.

Wildlife of the Sanctuary

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is home to many wildlife. Inside the Sanctuary, there are many steep mountain cliffs; At the base, there are large rock blocks and palms. Many Animals such as vultures, reptiles, and small mammals are found in this type of Shelter.

The Sanctuary includes Leopard, Dholes, Tigers, hyenas, jackals, and jackals and herbivores including chital, sambar, nilgai, four-horned deer, langur, wild boar, langur, and rhesus macaque. In addition, there are many small animals such are squirrels, porcupines, mongooses, gerbils, and rabbits, also found in the sanctuary. . A few to mention are common warbler, red-breasted barbet, bulbul, Bengal vulture, sunbird, white wagtail, crow pheasant, bee-eater, baya, cuckoo, kingfisher, kite, lark, jungle crow, egrets, myna,  and many more.

Excitement & Adventurous Things to do at Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary

1. Wildlife Safari

Jeep Safari or Wildlife Sanctuary is the most exciting thing to do at this Sanctuary. You can unlimitedly Chill with your friends and family here. Drive to the desert and look forward to meeting the big cats.

2. Boating

Here, along with the Jeep Safari, you can also get fun Boating. The Ratapani Jungle Lodge provides the Boating Facility here.

3. Bird watching at Ratapani

As we know before, there are around 59 bird species found in the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary. Though, there are not as many Birdwatching facilities there, Yet, you can enjoy watching many species of birds and do Photography here.

4. Trekking

5. Rappling at Kathotiya

6. Picnic at Riverside

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary Ticket Price, Timing

Ticket Price:

A night drive in the buffer area of the Sanctuary costs Rs. 2500 for 6 people. And, Daytime drives in the core area cost Rs. 3500 for 6 people.

Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary Timing:

DayTiming
Monday8 AM–3 PM
Tuesday8 AM–3 PM
Wednesday8 AM–3 PM
Thursday8 AM–3 PM
Friday8 AM–3 PM
Saturday8 AM–3 PM
Sunday8 AM–3 PM

Best Time To Visit Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary

The Best Time To Visit Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is in the Winter Season, between the month of November and February. During this time, you can get a chance to see most of the Migratory Birds.

How to reach Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary 

You can reach the Wildlife Sanctuary in 3 ways.

  • By Road: Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is located south of Bhopal city. It is just 60 km from Bhopal and is well connected by road. There are many Bus and Cab services available from Bhopal City.
  • By Train: The nearest Railway Station to the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is Itarsi Junction and Habibganj or Bhopal station. This station has connectivity to all major cities and tourist destinations. After reaching the station, you need to take the local car to reach the sanctuary. 
  • By Air: The nearest airport to the Sanctuary is Bhopal, which is 65 km from this location. Bhopal Airport is very well connected with the major cities of India. After reaching the Sanctuary, you need to take the local car to reach the Sanctuary.

Location in Google Map:

Threats And Conservation Issues

The Most  Common Threats And Conservation Issues in the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary are;

  • Encroachment and forest fires
  • Illegal fall
  • Victim
  • Cattle grazing
  • Human-animal conflict

From all sides, Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is under pressure, sich are Cattle Grazing, Poaching, illegal Logging, and encroachment. These are the major management concern of the sanctuary. The presence of 26 villages inside the sanctuary and another 109 villages in its vicinity exert related anthropogenic pressure.

 These villages depend on the organic resources of the sanctuary for their daily needs. The long, narrow area of ​​the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary makes it more vulnerable to intensive biological pressure in most of its areas.

Conclusion

To Sum up, Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the most popular destinations for Wildlife lovers and Nature lovers in Madhya Pradesh, India. Ratapani Sanctuary is also known as Ratapani Tiger Reserve, I hope you got the necessary information about Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary from this article before visiting the sanctuary.

Now, I want to know you:

Where did it come from?

Have you already visited or are you ready to explore Ratapani Wildlife sanctuary?

Let me know in the comments now.

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