Madhupur National Park

Madhupur National Park one of the earliest national parks of Bangladesh. It is situated in a forest of large timber trees, about 125 km away from Dhaka on the Mymensingh-Tangail highway in the district of Tangail. The Department of forest administers this park. It was established in 1962 and now occupies a land area of 20,837 acres. Of its 176 botanical species, 73 are trees, 22 shrubs, 1 palm, 8 grasses, 27 climbers and 45 medicinal plants. Some species of foreign origin are also planted in this park. Once the Madhupur National Park was full of elephants, tigers, cheetahs, peacocks, and other wild animals. However, most of them are now extinct. At present, the Park has about 190 types of animals of which 21 are mammals, 140 birds and 29 snakes. Notables among them are entellus, monkeys, phantom deer, porcupines, wild pigs, and different types of birds.

This park is quite suitable as a tourist spot, as it has an ecological variety, indigenous peoples and enticing natural and scenic beauty. It has different facilities like rest houses, picnic spots, artificial lakes and other means of entertainment. The forest department in Tangail maintains an advanced booking system for the visitors to avail these facilities. [Helal Uddin Ahmed]