Page 101 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #04

Q&A

Q WHAT CAN I SEE IN...? NATIONAL PARKS OF THE WORLD
BANDHAVGARH 4

INDIA

A Bandhavgarh is one of leopards and the Indian wild
four national parks in India dog (dhole) – are supported by
whose names are synonymous large numbers of spotted deer 3
2
with tigers. Home to a dense (chital), nilgai (Asia’s largest
population of nearly 50 antelope species), sambar and
individuals spread across its the diminutive muntjac.
1,200km , Bandhavgarh is Dominating the park
2
one of the best reserves in the is Bandhavgarh Fort, an
country for an encounter with extraordinary third-century
Asia’s iconic big cat. ruin hidden among the dense
Bandhavgarh was the home woodland that crowns the
of B2 – arguably the world’s imposing, 300m-high cliff walls
most famous tiger – who of Bandhavgarh Hill (you need
resided here until 2011, when a permit to explore the site).
he died of injuries sustained Other must-sees include the
following a clash with a younger striking lesser adjutant stork,
male. Thousands of tourists are which patrolsthewetland edges
thoughtto have visited thepark hunting fish, frogs and small
just to see and photographhim. mammals; thegrey-headed
Bandhavgarh’s tigers – and fishing eagle and the Malabar 1
other predators, which include piedhornbill. JF

TOP OF THE 1 Tiger 3 Lesser adjutant stork
TICKLIST 2 Chital 4 BandhavgarhFort

NATIONAL PARK IN NUMBERS
48 250 2000

ESTIMATED NUMBER SPECIES OF AGE OF
OF TIGERS BIRD BANDHAVGARH FORT

VOLUNTEERING Who volunteers for you? best job at looking after the Jurassic Coast
HOW CAN All sorts of people! Our volunteers are all by eroding it.Therefore our volunteer work is
ages and come from all walks of life and
more creative and interpretive – leading guided
I HELP...? backgrounds.The majority aren’tacademics, walks, delivering talks, assisting at family-
rather enthusiastic amateurs who love the
focused events, writing articles and taking
Jurassic Coast and everything it offers. photos for our website.
The Jurassic Coast Trust
What sort of work do they do? What’sa recent achievement?
What does your organisation do? We don’t have mandated tasks to complete We were the winning charity at the Exmouth
We look after the Jurassic Coast World (such as conservation work); the sea does the Kite Festival 2017. Our volunteers put on a
brilliant Jurassic Coast display with fossils,
Heritage Site, protecting its globally unique b
status and engaging people with its incredible Avolunteer d
dinosaurs and more, earning us £1,700.
stories of rocks, fossils and landforms. leads a field trip
What are they working on now?
around Sidmouth. W
Illustration by Bex Glove: volunteers: Guy Kerr see a complete record of the Mesozoic era – a as dinosaur-footprint walks and boat trips.
Why is the Jurassic Coast important?
D
Dippy on Tour, a project with the Natural
H
History Museum. Dippy is currentlyonshow
It’stheonlyplaceintheworld where you can
tDorset County Museum and will be until the
b
beginning of May.We have a whole programme
the Triassic,Jurassic and Cretaceous periods
o
of events going on to celebrate his visit, such
– displayed continuously across a single
a
coastline. Itis literallyawalk through time.
The Coast is also globally important for its
fossils and landforms, and for being the
w
www.jurassiccoast.org
birthplace of palaeontology.
April 2018 O GUY KERR BBC Wildlife 101