Climate
Winter(October-December) provide pleasant temperature with clear skies. Night time temperatures can drop to 0c. During spring (January-March) temperatures rise and water becomes scarce.
During summer(April-June ) the das become hot and humid with temperatures rising up to 40c. Monsoon (July-september) brings cooling rains.
Features
The forests are mainly composed of tropical and subtropical species. Sal forests compse 90 percent of the reserve's vegetation. The soil is primarily composed of gravel and conglomerates, making it very susceptible to erosion. The hills present a very rugged face with numerous gullies and dry stream gecs. As the foothills are very porous, waterflows underground and surfaces at a distance of about 15km. from the hills base. Along the banks of the rivers, riverine forests are found containing species like khair and silk cotton tree. In the north-eastern part of the reserver, at higher, sal and pine forests are found. On the southern slope of the siwalik hills, the forests are dominated by pine. sabai grass, a commercially important species, grows well on the southern face of the Churia hills. The churia hills range from 750m to 950m running east to west. The reserve supports good populations of various species. Endangered species include bear, and Leopard. Blue bull, Langur Rhesus macaques, Striped hyena, Jungle cat, and Palm civet are also found in the reserve.
The reserve also provides habitat for more than 50 species of birds. White breasted kingfisher, paradise flycatcher, Large racquet-tailed drongo, Golden-backed woodpecker, etc are some of the common sights. Giant hornhill, on of he endangered species is found in certain forest patches.
The reserve is also famous for reptiles. Different kinds of snakes include common Cobra, common and banded Krait, Python and king cobra.
Near the headquaters is a machan (View tower) that provides excellent oppotunity to catch glimpses of many birds, deer and leopard. Wild elephants could also be sighted form the machans. Kailash Bhata is a atop a hill, and is of religious importance. It has religious sighificance. It houses two small temples (Dugdeswor Mahadev) paying homage to the Hindu gods of shiva and Parbati. Also, one can look over teh lush forests of the terai form here. An elephant camp is located neat the Amlekhgunj. Jungle riges can be arranged from the resreve headquaters, which is the way to get a close view of the wildlife.
Facilities
There is a small guest house with four rooms at the headquarters. Visiters should provide there bedding. There is also a teahouse that can provide tea, snacks, and Nepali food. Hetauda and Birgunj are about an hour's bus ride. Make sure to bring a first-aid kit containing for intestinal problems.
How To Get There
The reserve is easily accessible. The kathmandu- Hetauda- Girgunj highway passws by the entrance gate. Bus can be taken from kathmandu. It takes six to seven hours to get there. A flight to simara takes about 20minutes. There is a 15 minutes bus ride to the reserve headquarter.
where is this?
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