Banke National Park is located in the

Lumbini Province Lumbini Province ( ne, लुम्बिनी प्रदेश, Lumbinī pradēśa) is a province in western Nepal. It borders Gandaki Province and Karnali Province to the north, Sudurpashchim Province to the west, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar o ...

and was established in 2010 as

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

’s tenth national park after its recognition as a "Gift to the Earth".DNPWC (2010)
''Banke National Park''
Government of Nepal, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Department of National Parks and Soil Conservation The protected area covers an area of with most parts falling on the

Churia range The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indian ...

. The park is surrounded by a buffer zone of in the districts of Banke, Salyan and Dang.Bhushal, R.P. (2010)
''Nod to Banke National Park.''
The Himalayan Times, 13 May 2010 Together with the neighboring Bardia National Park, the coherent protected area of represents the ''Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) Bardia-Banke''.

Vegetation

The vegetation in Banke National Park is composed of at least 113 tree species, 107 herbal species and 85 shrub and climber species. Common species include

sal Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to: Personal name * Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname Places * Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality * Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Ca ...

, axlewood, ''

Semecarpus anacardium ''Semecarpus anacardium'', commonly known as the marking nut tree, phobi nut tree and varnish tree, is a native of India, found in the outer Himalayas to the Coromandel Coast. It is closely related to the cashew. Etymology ''Semecarpus anacardi ...

'',

khair Khair is a town and a municipal board in Aligarh district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Khair is the biggest town of Aligarh district. It is situated around 27 km from Aligarh, 114 km from Delhi and 60 km from Mathura. Hi ...

, and''Terminalia alata''.

Fauna

The protected area holds

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

and

four-horned antelope The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), or ''chousingha'', is a small antelope found in India and Nepal. Its four horns distinguish it from most other bovids, which have two horns (with a few exceptions, such as the Jacob sheep) ...

. In 2014, a

ruddy mongoose The ruddy mongoose (''Urva smithii'') is a mongoose species native to hill forests in India and Sri Lanka. Description The ruddy mongoose's fur is brownish and coarse, long in hindquarters, but short in other parts of the body. Its head to body ...

was recorded for the first time in the protected area.Subba, S.A., Malla, S., Dhakal, M., Thapa, B.B., Bahadur, L., Bhandari, K.O. and Bajracharya, P. (2014). Ruddy Mongoose ''Herpestes smithii'': a new species for Nepal. Small Carnivore Conservation 51: 88–89.

References

National parks of Nepal Protected areas established in 2010 2010 establishments in Nepal {{Province5NP-geo-stub