Which national park is India's oldest, first established in 1936 as Hailey National Park?

India’s oldest national park, first established in 1936 as Hailey National Park, is Jim Corbett National Park.

The protected area was created in the Ramganga River valley when Sir Malcolm Hailey was governor of the United Provinces. It was initially named Hailey National Park, then became Ramganga National Park in the mid-1950s before being renamed Corbett National Park in honour of conservationist and author Jim Corbett.

Corbett had helped campaign for the reserve’s creation alongside Hailey. The park lies in present-day Uttarakhand, in the Himalayan foothills, and protects sal forests, grasslands, riverine habitats and wetlands. Its wildlife includes Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, leopards, several deer species and hundreds of bird species.

The park was also central to India’s tiger-conservation history: in 1973 it became one of the first locations selected for Project Tiger. The alternatives are younger national parks, although some Indian protected areas have older histories under different legal designations.