One more national park added to my wishlist. This time its the Dachigam National Park which is not such a known place though it is very close to Srinagar in Kashmir. Dachigam probably stands for the ten villages that were relocated to form the park.
It is just 22 kms from Srinagar making it convenient to stay there and make a day trip to this park. Unlike other national parks there is supposedly no entry fee here! But permission needs to be taken from the Chief Wildlife Warden whose office is near Dal Lake below Grand Palace Hotel (Info Courtesy – Outlook Traveller’s Wildlife Holidays in India).
The main inhabitants of this park include the Hangul (Kashmir Stag) the only species of Red Deer found in India . Other than this there are the Himlayan Brown and Black Bears together with the elusive Leopards and Jungle Cats. The bird list is impressive with the likes of Kashmir Flycatcher, Himalayan Monal, Red Billed Blue Magpie and other exotic birds.
The best time to visit this place is September-October when bear sightings are frequent.
Please click on the below image to read more about Dachigam in the Kashmir tourism site.
Some of the useful links that I found while reading up about Dachigam are given below.
- EcoIndia.com has a detailed page including how to get there, safari info etc -> http://goo.gl/LjqHT
- Wildvistas.com has most of this and much more information. It also has a map. -> http://goo.gl/v38Wo
