Call of the Wild - Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

State : Madhya Pradesh Area : 1,945 sq. km Altitude: 500- 1,000 Vegetation : Tropical moist & dry deciduous

The land of Mowgli, Bagheera and Sher Khan in Kipling’s celebrated Jungle Book, Kanha is the epitome of natural beauty and a wide variety of splendid wildlife of central Indian forests. Home to a tenth of the tiger population in India, Kanha is also famous for the endangered hard ground Barashinga (swamp deer). At Kanha the first scientific study of the tiger was performed by the renowned zoologist George Schaller.

 In the early hour of the morning, the forest emerges slowly out of the mist. An endless meadow that rolls into green hillocks and thickets of evergreen Sal, Pipal and banyan trees stretches into the horizon. As the sun emerges slowly, the magical forest comes to life with cheerful birdsong, Langurs swinging from tree to tree, deer herds strolling onto the meadows nibbling on grass and carefully checking for predators, peacocks quacking and wild boars hurrying around with babies in search for food. The trees, sounds and views merge into a natural symphony every day.

Home to about a tenth of India’s tiger population, the Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh was formed in 1955 primarily to save the Hardground Barasingha; the fawn-coloured deer is found in India only, and after careful conservation, its numbers have been increased to 400. The Kanha National Park forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve, created in 1974 under Project Tiger. Today it stretches over an area of 940 km² in the two districts Mandala and Balaghat.

Kanha is a horseshoe formed valley enclosed by the Satpura Mountains. The Banjar and Halon Valley forests surrounded by densely forested hills form the two distinct western and eastern parts of Kanha. Open meadows of grassland are surrounded by lush Sal forests punctuated by bamboo thickets and a few perennial water streams that feed the waterholes.

Kanha is home to a large variety of wildlife that include tigers, leopard, jungle cat, sloth bear, wild dog (Dhole), Jackals, Gaurs (wild buffaloes), Chital (spotted deer) and wild boars. 

Main Attraction : Tigers, Swamp deer, Wild Dogs, Gaur, Sloth Bear, Leopard

Avi Fauna : Kanha is a birdwatcher’s paradise with more than 200 species of birds, both inhabitant and migratory recorded in the park; these include the Cattle egret, Black ibis, Hawk eagle, Red-wattled lapwing, Racket tailed Drongo, Common peafowl, Leaf warblers, Pigeon, Dove, Golden oriole, Large green barbet, White breasted kingfisher, Crimson breasted barbet, Grey Hornbill, Lesser golden backed woodpecker, Hair crested Drongo, Common teal, Pintail duck which can be often seen near the park’s water bodies. Raptors such as Shikra, Crested hawk eagle, Crested serpent eagle nest on the tall trees.