India News | Similipal National Park to Reopen for Visitors from Nov 1

Baripada (Odisha), Oct 11 (PTI) Similipal National Park in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district will be reopened for tourists from November 1 after a closure of over four months due to monsoon, an official said on Tuesday.

Similipal Tiger Reserve Field Director T Ashok Kumar said the park was closed for visitors from June 15 with the onset of the monsoon season.

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Tourists will be allowed to enter the sanctuary from two gates at Jashipur and Pithabata, he said.

Thirty-five four-wheelers will be permitted to get entry into the national park through the Jashipur checkpoint and another 25 vehicles through the Pithabata gate between 6 AM to 9 AM every day from November 1, Kumar said, adding that use of plastics inside the sanctuary has been banned.

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Tourists can stay at night at cottages inside the park at Jamuani, Ramtirtha and Kumari, he said.

Visitors are not allowed to enter forests and hilly regions inside the sanctuary during the rainy season every year.

Spread over 2,750 square kilometre, the Similipal National Park has a variety of 1,076 plant species belonging to 102 families and 96 orchid types.

It is home to 42 species of mammals, 242 varieties of birds and 30 reptile categories, the official said.

Besides rare melanistic tigers, leopards, Asian elephants, sambar, barking deer, gaur, jungle cat, wild boar, four-horned antelope and giant squirrel are seen here.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)