Not the biggest of national parks, Bannerghatta National Park spans 731.88 hectares and is located just 25 kilometers off the main city area. I believe this first opened in the year 2002. However, that is not to say that it is any less than other national parks in terms you getting your desired dose of entertainment you made the trip for.:D
The National Park itself is divided into 5 or 6 sections - Herbivore Safari, Tiger Safari, Lion Safari and Bear Safari. There is also a zoological garden and a Butterfly Park. The Safaris are the main attraction here. The thing to note is that this park is divided into 4 sub-divisions(parks) for each of the safaris. And each of the parks is fenced, being dedicated to a certain classification of animal it houses. The parks were first created and the animals brought to be housed subsequently. In that way, it is quite different from some other natural habitats which were declared as a National Park where the different species co-existed and a certain area was declared as a'forest reserve' or'natural park'. Nevertheless, you don't for once feel you are not really within some deep woods or forest area once within the parks.
I have made 2 trips to the National Park, once in 2006 and once very recently in 2016. My experience was a bit different on each of the occasions. I think I will take the 2016 experience as reference for my review with references to the 2006 experience wherever deemed necessary. Back in 2006, there were no frequent / proper bus routes till that far, so me and 3 others had hired a van to get there. In contrast, now there are a few operational bus routes to get there from the main city - 365 series and G4 series being the prominent ones.
In terms of how one would like to go on the Safaris - There are quite a few options. There is the'regular' bus safari. This a is a regular bus with windows which can be opened. All that separates you from he forest area is a thin grill / mesh which has significant openings at regular intervals for taking pictures with your cameras. This'regular' option also buys a you a ticket to the zoological garden, should you also choose to pay a visit to view caged animals. I went for this'regular' safari option which actually is better in ways, in my opinion.
However, there were other options like the air conditioned bus safari. It does get quite hot by mid-day. But then, air-conditioned would mean the windows would be closed. So, it's upto you whether you want that or you want to feel closer to the forest. The air conditioned bus safari also includes a trip to the Butterfly Park, which I've not been to(Not a huge fan of insects!;).
There is also a jeep safari option with even fewer people. I distinctly remember seeing an'elephant safari' option back in 2006. Didn't go on one here. No longer there in 2016. Maybe because there have been very rare isolated incidents in other national parks since, where the tiger came out of nowhere and jumped on to the elephant.
Let me now dwell a bit on each of the Safaris. The recommended option is to go early in the day. Maybe catch the safari between 10 A.M. - 11 A.M. if sighting the animals is your priority. Like us animals are also not immune to the sun.:) Also, probably the cooler seasons are a better option to visit National Parks. So, better option is to catch them earlier in the day when they are relatively hungrier and seek less shelter from the sun.
In my experience, I've never seen the herbivores come up to the roads. They prefer staying close to the vegetation. In case of some of the carnivores, the story is quite different as I will soon relate. Right, left, behind or in front of you. They could appear from anywhere. Be prepared for it.;)
This time round, the bus entered the herbivore park first. We got to see a Nilgai, sambar and regular deer. You would suddenly find a group of them amidst the vast expanse of vegetation and the bus would pause for you to take pictures or enjoy the moment. Visually very sweet. You would also find some solitary ones along the way. Being fond of deer, I loved it. Next we came upon some elephants at a distance. Two adults and an infant near a big lake. Very picturesque images. After mulling over the scenes for a bit, we moved on to the bear safari.
Next was the bear safari. The bear park is also additionally surrounded by a moat, maybe to prevent them from getting ideas about jumping across. The bear safari houses a lot of black sloth bears. Bears are known to be ominivorous and I've read about some wild black sloth bear attacks elsewhere in the past, so I suppose they can't be called harmless. But they are definitely the most visibly playful carnivores of the entire National Park. Doing all kinds of things with whatever means available to them. Maybe as playful as a monkey. During my 2006 visit, I'd sighted numerous bears. Maybe I'd never seen more in terms of numbers at one place. Some had even come up to the road. Close to the bus. This time however, it was a different story. I witnessed only 6 bears. And that too, they were not roaming around the park but near the central enclosure. Maybe they were feeling the sun. And probably their dark coat absorbs heat faster and made them choose shady shelters. Next was the lion safari.
My previous experience with the lions of Bannerghatta National Park was that they were less eager to be close to the visitors. Kind of shy. In 2006, I'd seen 4 or 5 of them(or maybe 5-6 of them) from a distance in one location. This time round, I saw 3-4 of them, 2 of them from very close quarters. And in separate locations. In fact, one of them was anything but shy. It was sitting bang in the middle of the road. Holding up both the air-conditioned bus and our bus. After around 5-10 minutes, the bus had to really rev up the engine to roaring levels, to make the lion get up and take a position at the side of the road. Right next to my window. It did not seem too perturbed by the incident. Quietly sat and lazed around, like lions are known to do when not hunting prey. Perhaps, it thought the bus to be some bigger lion on account of the engine noise.:D:) I remember employing a similar strategy earlier in my life to drive away 3-4 stray dogs(by barking at them). One thing which can definitely be said about the lion park is that their camouflage to their surroundings is way better than any other animal in the park. Spotting them is not very obvious always. That is why even though there are supposed to be around 30 lions in the park, one has to be very alert to spot any of them.
Lastly, we visited the tiger safari. Back in 2006, I'd seen a tiger come up to the road and view us with curious eyes from the side. This time round, we saw a few more near the road. There were a few white tigers as well. They are definitely more agile and curious compared to the lions. No straining eyes to view them. The tigers of Bannerghatta - If they want to make their presence known, they won't take any half measures. I guess, during both my visits, there were always some tigers near the edge of the park along the way. We saw a couple of tigers get into a bit of a quarrel and then in separate incident 2 of them maunder aimlessly in front of us, right on the road completely dismissive of the bus behind them. One appeared suddenly appeared from the right out of nowhere from the dense undergrowth. It didn't seem over-friendly or over-anxious. This one seemed majestic in its strides and passed us at a steady pace, briefly pausing to regard us with alert eyes. Then, there was one which crossed the road moments before the bus passed from the same spot. Seemed completely unaffected by us. There was another when the bus had paused which came right in front of my window. Touching distance. Window was open and the opening through which I was taking pictures through the thin grill was also wide enough. Could've definitely pawed me if it'd wanted to.;) In all the excitement and with the adrenaline rush, I also did not realise how close it was and continued taking pictures. But I got a great picture at that moment. After staring for a while, it started sniffing the sides of the bus and the windows. And this point, I could see it in the opening between the grill and the sides of the bus. That close! Took some great videos in the tiger safari. There are supposed to be 36 tigers in the park. I think we may have seen 10-15 of them in my latest trip. Definitely more than in 2006, which was also a good visit.
So, after an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half, it was done. And all the emotions and excitement it made you go through, kind of left you exhausted and at the same time, very pleased. I did not visit the Butterfly Park in 2006 or 2016. But that is also one of the sections, if one wants to pay a visit.
I did visit the zoo, something I'd not done in 2006. I think the zoo is not bad. But maybe not that well structured. There was a limping agitated tiger in one of the cages. Didn't seem too happy. But then, I've often read that the routine trouble making tigers are relocated to zoos. And the patterned trouble makers are only trouble makers because they can't hunt faster prey. That is generally because of some external or inherent injury. Perhaps, this was one of the caged troublemakers? Also, there was one lone crocodile kind of stranded in an enclosure with no evident way of getting out of its pit and with very less water in the pit as well. Can't really justify that. But other than that, there are a good variety of birds, reptiles and mammals in the zoo. The leopard enclosure was interesting. There were hardly any caged monkeys in the zoo or anywhere in the park. They were going around the zoo and doing all kinds of laughable things. One monkey got hold of some garment and spent some serious time trying to figure out how to wear it. Seemed something like a black salwaar kameez.
Even when I had not yet entered the National Park, while waiting for it open, I was entertained by some curious monkeys who were also doing all kinds of stuff outside the National Park. One of them thought he owned a restaurant just outside the park premises. His demeanor was no less.;)
I did have a passing thought while I was leaving the premises as to what if a Leopard Safari were added to the park? Would be exciting as they were likely to climb on trees in their natural habitat and we would get to see such amazing scenarios. But I suppose leopards being more agile would be able to breach the fenced areas. Recently some leopard escaped the zoo and entered a school in the city and created some havoc before it was driven away. In the National Park, they could jump into other animal enclosures and possibly get themselves killed or create other forms of ruckus. So, if they were to ever do it, Leopard Park fences would have to be quite high.
Speaking of amenities, the premises are not lacking in that department. There are some lodges, food stalls both outside and inside the park premises. So, one doesn't really have to carry anything on their own. And the bus stand is right outside.
All in all, it was a great way to spend a day to do something different and definitely worthwhile in terms of viewing animals in a National Park. I've been to some bigger National Parks - Jim Corbett, Chitwan. No doubt, they are what they are with much larger area and a more natural habitat. But for an artificial converted habitat, Bannerghatta National Park delivers full throttle!
