Bandipur National Park, part of the lushly-forested Deccan Plateau, Bandipur, in Karnataka, offers a rich and varied wildlife habitat. It is a part of a larger national park, which also includes the neighbouring wildlife sanctuaries, of Mudumalai Tamil Nadu and Wynad in Kerala. This sanctuary is one of the 15 sanctuaries selected across India for Project Tiger, a scheme launched in 1973, by the World Wide Fund for Nature - Flora and Fauna: India, to save the tiger and its habitat. Covered with a mix of deciduous forests, evergreen forests and scrub, and well - irrigated by the Moyar river, Bandipur has a fairly open forest area, making it easy for visitors to spot wildlife. The prominent fauna of this reserve, include the Asian elephant, gaur, sambar, chital, mouse deer, four horned antelope, wild pig, black-necked hare and the Indian porcupine.