Introduction

Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is part of Navegaon-Nagzira tiger reserve, located in Maharashtra state in western India. It is a Southers Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest type. It is located in between Bhandara and Gondia districts of Maharashtra state. It is a small wildlife sanctuary that act as a halting point in tiger corridors that connects Kanha national park with Tadoba national park, Umred-Pauni-Karandala Wildlife Sanctuary and Pench national park. Thus here tiger sighting remains good for some period of time then drops down but sighting of leopards, sloth bear, wild dog and India gaur remains good. Allong with these mammals, its birding is very good. This sanctuary is not so vast with no meadows thus deer species sighting is occasional. When Nagzira wildlife sanctuary was clubbed with Navegaon national park, Navegaon wildlife sanctuary and Koka wildlife sanctuary, a grand tiger reserve was formed in 2013-14 with name as Navegaon Nagzira tiger reserve. Because Nagzira was already popular thus its safari is still operated separately from Navegaon national park, through entrance gates dedicated for Nagzira wildlife sanctuary. Its easy accessibility from Nagpur makes it very convenient for tourists to explore this forest.

History

As mentioned above, Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is spread over Gondia and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra state. History of Nagzira forest is associated with history of these districts. In past, on 7th century, this region was under rule of Haihaya Rajput Kings. They maintained control over this region till Parmara rulers of Malwa region took over the contril in 9th century till 11th century. Later in 12th century, Gond rulers of Mandla spread their kingdom in north and west direction thus Gondia and Bhandara region came under their rule. In order to improve the water resources in this region for better agricultural production, they ordered for making of vast Nawegaon lake in 1300 AD. This lake was make under the leadership of two important person Kohlu and Chima, from local Kohli community. Making of lake no only helped in ensuring water for agricultural purpose but also helped in growth of wildlife in this region. Later Maratha Bhosle rulers of Nagpur took this region in their control in  18th century. They maintained control for few years only as British forces gain control on this region and put it in Central Province. This sanctuary was declared on 1970 with an area of 116.54 sq. kms.

Specialty

As we have mentioned above that Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is small in area thus we can't expect here as tigers to permanently settle down. Here terrain is main hilly with woodlands thus it lacks in meadows thus density of deers is not so high. They are seen in small herds and occasionally. Due to weak preybase, tigers use it as halting point thus their sighting lasts for few months and then they disappears which means they moved out to big forest areas like Kanha national park, Tadoba national park or Pench national park. Due to less movement of tigers, leopards are more active in this region. Sloth bear sighting is also possible in early morning or late evening hours. Sighting of wild boar, Indian gaur, sambar deer is more frequent. It is also good for bird-watchers.

Safari Timing

Jungle safari timing of Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is almost similar to other surrounding national parks like Kanha national park, Tadoba national park etc. Here safaris are operated in two rounds i.e. morning safari round and afternoon safari round. Here weekely safari holiday varies as per entry gate which means when one safari gate will remain closed due to weekly off then safari will operate from other gate so that tourists will have option for jungle safari.

Jungle Safari

Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is part of Nagzira-Navegaon tiger reserve. Still Nagzira wildlife sanctuary maintains its separate identity. Here we can easily get the safari permits thus it is not a big challenge for tourists. Safaris are operated on safari jeeps only which means, open bus safari option is not available. Jungle safari charges of Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is comparatively less than safari charges of surrounding national parks like Kanha national park, Tadoba national park, Pench national park. Due to presence of lake, close to resort sites and villages, it is possible to do bird-watching in adjoining sites of these lakes, with the help of resort management.

Flora & Fauna

Birds

How to reach

Nagzira forest is 120 kms east of Nagpur city. Majority of guests arriving by flight uses Nagpur airport for arrival and departure. Due to good flight connectivty, it is most suitable option for tourists. At the same time tourists arriving by train uses Gondia railway station (50 km) or Nagpur railway station for arrival and departure purpose. Road connectivity of Nagzira is very good thus traveling to this forest is very convenient for all tourists.
 

Best time to visit

Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is open for visitors from October to June months. Here more volume of tourists has been observed in months from November to March. It is mainly due to good climatic conditions i.e. winter and spring season and occurance of major festival holidays in this period. Where as wildlife photographers prefers the period from February to April when spring and summers season prevails. When temperature rises, major attraction i.e. Leopards and Tiger sighting chance increases. Safari guides focus around known water holes to have sighting of these big cats for photography.  Period from November to March is also good for birding. Thus we can say that period from November to April is the best time to visit Nagzira wildlife sanctuary.

How to Plan

Nagzira is a small wildlife sanctuary thus this forest can be easily well explored. Majority of tourists visiting Nagzira wildlife sanctuary are those who are covering some other popular tiger reserve also like Kanha national park, Tadoba national park, Pench tiger reserve. Thus they divide the stay duration in between two destinations in which they allocate more time in popular tiger reserve and less time for Nagzira. Here accommodation options are limited thus in season from November to April, try to do accommodation booking in advance. Here luxury eco lodges are not available thus we can expect only standard and budget category options. For low budget tourists, Nagzira is ideal destination to visit and enjoy the nature. Here we recommend 2-4 rounds of safari. If you are interested in birding, then nature walks are also recommended.

Accommodation

Nagzira is a small wildlife sanctuary and tourism is also not so great as some very popular wildlife tourism destinations are surrounding to it like Tadoba national park, Kanha national park Thus due to average tourism, here we can't find luxury safari lodges or even deluxe category resorts. Here we can expect mostly budget and standard category of accommodation options.

Nearby

Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is surrounded by wildlife destinations only. After covering Nagzira wildlife sanctuary, tourists have option to visit Kanha national park, Umred-Pauni-Karandala wildlife sanctuary, Tadoba national park, Pench national park. In addition to this, we have option to explore tribal tourism destinations of Chattsigarh like Kawardha, Dhamtari, Raipur etc.