"You must cover Dhudhwa national Park" said my friend Alen. Alen has been my friend for past many years and he has explored India and Uttar Pradesh in particular for his research work. " Fine" I replied. In fact, my daughter Leena was quite excited as this was the second sanctuary that she was going to cover in Uttar Pradesh.

When Leena, was in standard four, she was asked to paint earth. And I vividly remember that she splashed green, increadible tall trees populated with monkey and bright birds. In thick carpet below, she drew childlike faces of the Tiger.

And now we were heading towards Dhudhwa, a tiger resort, in Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh. From precaution point of view I took a guide, Ankur, who helped us in our exploration. he told us that Dudhwa National Park is best known for the Barasingha or Swamp Deer and covers an area of about 500 sq km, The grasslands and woodlands of this park, consist mainly of sal forests. The barasingha is found in the southwest and southeast regions of the park. Among the big cats, tigers abound at Dudhwa. There are also a few leopards. The other animals found in large numbers, are the Indian one-horned rhinoceros and the wild elephant. Other animals found in Dudhwa are jungle cats, leopard cats, fishing cats, jackals, civets, sloth bears, sambar, otters, crocodiles and chital.

As we explored Dudhwa National Park, we found that the park comprised of sal forests, marshes and grasslands which harbour a wide variety of wildlife. The Park is famous for the reintroduced one horned rhino and swamp deer (barasingha). Dudhwa has the distinction of having the largest surviving population of this endangered species, their presence rendered more spectacular by the propensity for segregation of the antlered males. Bird life is prolific - being a marshland, it provides a natural habitat for the winter migratory birds. An ideal paradise for birders to see the Lesser Bengal Florican and Swamp Partridge - both these species are on the red alert list.

Ankur, our guide, also informed us that the best time to visit Dudhwa is between November and May. The park remains open to the public from November to June, but by June it’s too hot for comfort.