Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve

Koshi Tappu covers the braided floodplain of the Sapta Koshi where the river spreads across the Terai before entering India, a landscape of sandbars, grassland, marsh and scrub quite unlike the sal forest parks further west, and it was created to protect the arna, the wild water buffalo, of which Nepal's only population lives here. Birds are the other draw: the reserve list runs to around five hundred species, among the richest in the country, with waterbirds in numbers on the barrages and marshes, and specialities including Bengal florican and swamp francolin. Gangetic dolphins occur in the river. Rafts and boats work the channels, and walking with a guide on the grasslands is possible. Lodges sit on the reserve edge.

What you actually see

• Wild water buffalo - Nepal's only population of arna.
• The bird list - around five hundred species on the floodplain.
• Braided river channels - sandbars and marsh across the Koshi plain.
• Gangetic dolphins - occasionally seen in the deeper river channels.

When to go

November to March for the birds and the weather; migrants peak in winter. The monsoon floods the reserve entirely and it closes. April and May are hot and hazy.

Honest expectations

Buffalo sightings need a guide and some walking; the animals are wary. Mosquitoes and heat are significant outside winter. Facilities are a handful of lodges on the edge. Flooding changes the channels and access routes each year.

Nearby

Biratnagar lies south; Dharan is northwest.