Karnataka's Nagarhole National Park (officially known as the Rajiv Gandhi National Park) is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India's largest stretch of protected forest, an area which includes, besides Nagarhole, the neighbouring sanctuaries of Bandipur, Mudumalai and Wynaad. Established in 1955 as a wildlife sanctuary, Nagarhole was designated a national park twenty years later. The park today stretches in a series of gentle hills and valleys, over an expanse of 640 sq km, north of the river Kabini. The park is centred around a perennial water reservoir formed in 1974, when the Kabini River was dammed.

Nagarhole's vegetation is refreshingly different from Bandipur's dry scrub- moist deciduous forests, including bamboo, teak, eucalyptus and cassia, cover much of the sanctuary, providing a refuge for a wide range of animals and birds. Nagarhole has all the resident wildlife of the Nilgiri hills: nilgiri tahr, nilgiri langur, bison, leopard, asian elephant, wild boar, deer, dhole (wild dog) and porcupine, besides tigers. A high canopy of trees- up to thirty metres tall in some places- harbours rare birds such as the endangered Malabar trogon, the Malabar pied hornbill and the crested hawk-eagle.

Wildlife: Sambar, Chital or Spotted Deer, Muntjac or Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Tiger, Leopard, India Wild Dog, Sloth Bear, Hyena, Aquatic Tortoises, Terrestrial Tortoises, Frogs, Toads, Tree Frogs, Myriad Insects, Colourful butterflies, Grey Headed Fishing Eagle, Crested Hawk Eagle, Serpent Eagle, Honey Buzzard, Shaheen Falcon, Hobby Falcon, King Vulture, Malabar Trogon, Blue Bearded Bee Eater, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Great Black Wood Pecker, Alexandrine Parakeet, Lesser Coucal, Scarlet Minivet, Indian Pitta, Fairy Blue Bird, Scimitar Babbler, Paradise Flycatcher, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Green Imperial Pigeon, Yellow Legged Green Pigeon, Racket Tailed Drongo.

Adventure: Brahmagiri Mountains for trekking.