What Betla Actually Is
Betla National Park covers roughly 250 square kilometres inside the larger Palamau Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand's Latehar district, a reserve that was among the first nine in India brought under Project Tiger in 1973. The forest is sal-dominant, dense in the valleys, opening into grassland near the Auranga and Burha rivers. Wild elephants move through in herds. Leopards are resident. The tiger count is modest but real, Palamau's camera trap surveys have confirmed breeding individuals in recent years, which is more than many reserves with louder reputations can claim.
