Borivali Wildlife Park

The official name of the Borivali Wildlife Park is Sanjay Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. Sprawling over an area of 104 sq km, the Sanjay Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary’s main attractions are the tiger and lion safaris. It is flanked by the busiest cities on three sides and is thus a perfect escape into solitude for people during weekends. This is the largest park in the work situated within the vicinity of the city.

Besides a variety of flora and fauna the park has Kanheri Caves which dates back to 2,400 years. There are Buddhist caves and once served as rest houses to the travelers.

There are also two lakes inside the park – the Vihar Lake and the Tulsi Lake. The Sanjay Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary houses innumerous plants, insects, animals, and birds. Nearly 800 types of floral plants, 50 reptiles, 5,000 species of insects, 284 kinds of birds, 36 types of mammals, and 150 kinds of butterflies are said to be found here. Many endangered species of plants and animals like the Atlas Moth, which is the world’s largest Moth and Karvi, a flower which blooms once a year are found in this Borivali Wildlife Park.

The major flora found in the park are kadamba, teak, karanj, shisam, and species of acacia, ziziphus, euphorbia, red silk cotton and a multiple variety of flowers. The forest gets a heavenly look in monsoon when the wild colorful flower blooms.

The Borivali Wildlife Park houses a large diversity of animals like Spotted Deer, Black Naped Hare, Barking Deer, Porcupine, Palm Civet, Mouse Deer, Rhesus Macaque, Bounet Macaque, Hanuman Langur, Indian Flying Fox, and Sambhar.

There are about 38 species of reptiles found here. The Tulsi Lake inside the Park is a dwelling of Pythons, Cobras, Monitor Lizards, Russell's viper, Bamboo Pit Viper and Ceylonese Cat Snakes.

The Sanjay Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary is a perfect destination for bird lovers. Besides jungle owlets, golden orioles, racket-tailed drongos, minivets, magpies, robins, hornbills, bulbuls, sunbirds, peacock, and woodpeckers the migratory birds like flycatcher, kingfisher, mynas, drongos, swifts, gulls, egrets, and herons are also seen here in abundance.

Getting there:
The Borivali Wildlife Park or Sanjay Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary is very well connected by roadways, railways and airways. Nearest airport and rail head are at Mumbai which are 16 km far and 40 km respectively from the park.

There are rest houses as well as forest camps available here for accommodation. The park is open from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm everyday except Mondays.