in the open areas of the park. There have been reports of the Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena hyaena) and the caracal (Caracal caracal schmitzi) the latter being an exclusive open area dweller. The tiger reserve abounds with chital or the spotted deer (Axis axis) which is the main prey animal of the tiger and the Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca). The Indian bison were reintroduced from Kanha. Reintroduction of gaur Bandhavgarh National Park had a small population of gaur, but due to disease passed from cattle to them, all of them died. The project of reintroduction of gaurs dealt with shifting some gaurs from Kanha National Park to Bandhavgarh. 50 animals were shifted by the winter of 2012. This project was executed by Madhya Pradesh Forest department, Wildlife Institute of India and Taj Safaris by technical collaboration. Transportation Bandavgarh National Park is roughly 4.5hrs (~200kms) drive from the nearest major city, Jabalpur. Jabalpur is very well connected to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Indore via air travel. Bandhavgarh does not have the airport facility for mainstream flights, but Jabalpur city, which is the nearest city to Bandhavgarh, has good air connectivity with major cities of India. Private charters can land near Bandhavgarh National Park, Umaria district also has a small air-strip facility for charter planes. Jabalpur Airport (199 km/04:30hrs) is the best option to reach Bandhavgarh National Park as it is connected to: Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bhopal, with these airline options AirIndia, SpiceJet & IndiGo. Train Travel by train is another good option. Travel to Umaria junction by train and hire a cab or taxi to the National Park. Birds Some of the typical and peculiar birds found in Bandhavgarh national park are Plum-headed parakeet Green-headed barbet Orange-headed thrush Brown-headed barbet Coppersmith barbet Common myna Alexandrine parakeet Indian grey hornbill Rock pigeon House crow Carrion crow Little egret Cattle egret Great egret Black drongo Pond heron Common snipe Black-winged stilt Red-wattled lapwing Indian peafowl Greater coucal Oriental magpie robin Indian roller Indian robin Eurasian collared dove Hoopoe Sirkeer malkoha Large-billed crow White-browed fantail flycatcher Yellow-crowned woodpecker Rufous treepie (normal and pallida) Lesser adjutant stork Oriental white eye Olive-backed pipit Spotted dove White-throated kingfisher Red-rumped swallow Lesser whistling teal Common kingfisher Black stork Asian green bee-eater Greater racket-tailed drongo Red-vented bulbul Long-billed vulture Grey-capped pygmy woodpecker Chestnut-shouldered petronia Crested serpent eagle Black