Jim Corbett National Park is India's oldest national park, and located near Nainital in the state of Uttaranchal. The park is known for its varied wildlife, and as the site for the launching of Project Tiger. The Corbett National Park and the adjoining Sonanadi Sanctuary form the Corbett Tiger Reserve.
The park was first established on August 8, 1936 as Hailey National Park under the United Provinces National Parks Act of India (after Sir Malcolm Hailey, the then Governor of the United Provinces.) In 1952, five years after India attained independence, the park was renamed Ramganga National Park, after the Ramganga river that flows through most of its length. In 1957, it was again renamed, Corbett National Park, in honour of Jim Corbett, a legendary hunter-turned-conservationist, best known for hunting man-eating tigers and leopards in the Kumaon and lower Garhwal in the 1920s, and for later chronicling his adventures in many books, like The Maneaters of Kumaon and The Maneating Leopard of Rudraprayag, that were bestsellers around the world.
The wildlife found in the Corbett National Park include the tiger, elephant, chital, sambar, nilgai, gharial, King Cobra, muntjac, wild boar, hedgehog, common musk shrew, flying fox, Indian Pangolin, and nearly 600 species of birds. The park receives thousands of visitors every year. A variety of facilities are available to house tourists within and outside the park.
