Shuklaphanta National Park

Shuklaphanta ('white grassland') protects the largest continuous grassland in Nepal, the phanta, where thousands of swamp deer (barasingha) graze in herds. Tigers, leopards, wild elephants, hog deer, a reintroduced population of rhinos, and grassland birds like the Bengal florican also live here. It was upgraded from a wildlife reserve to a national park in 2017.

Visitors take jeep drives across the grasslands and to Rani Tal, a forest lake at the centre of the park linked with the legend of a Tharu queen. It is one of the least crowded national parks in Asia; lodges are in and around Bhimdatta (Mahendranagar).