Pench, Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Park

ABOUT PENCH

Pench Tiger reserve is fondly recalled as the true Kipling country- it is named after the Pench river which flows across the entire park. Pench's claim to a wild tiger country comes from the fact that it has the highest density of herbivore population like the chital, sambhar etc.. and the unique teak forest.

The Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighborhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling's most famous work, The Jungle Book.

Pench shot to celebrity status when the BBC wildlife team filmed the brilliant documentary "Tiger- Spy in the Jungle" detailing the life of tigers in Pench.

An area of 450 sq.km. in Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh was protected as Pench Sanctuary in 1977. 292 sq. km. was upgraded as Pench National Park in 1983. In 1992, a total area of 757 sq.km. was declared as Pench Tiger Reserve, India's 19th tiger reserve.

Gonds, the local tribe revere Mansingh Deo, a legendary figure who was believed to be a magician who had supernatural healing powers. He would ride into the local bazaar on his tiger. There are two temples dedicated to him, the Chhota Mansingh and Bada Mansingh temples.

PARK LANDSCAPE

Pench is the True Kipling Country, and has been mentioned by naturalist like Captain J. Forsyth in very high regards. The terrain of the park is undulating with mainly gentle slopes criss-crossed by streams and nullahs, though most of these water courses are seasonal. Many of the hills are flat-topped and allow fine vistas of the forests around- best known of these is 'Kalapahar' with an altitude of 650 mts. The Pench river flowing from north to south-west through the center of the Reserve dries out by April but a number of water pools locally known as 'dohs' are found, which serve as waterholes for wild animals. A few perennial springs also exist. Recently a number of earthen ponds and shallow wells have been developed leading to well distributed sources of water all around the reserve.

CLIMATE & WEATHER

The Pench National Park experiences a tropical kind of a climate and there are drastic variations in the climatic conditions in Pench. It has hot summers and cold winters. Early July experiences heavy rainfall and the rainy season continues for the next two months. The average rainfall annually is around 1300 mm in the months of July and August and as such the national park is shut down. The winters are the jungle blossom season and is a photographer's fantasy. The minimum and maximum temperatures recorded in Pench National Park are 4° C and 40.5° C respectively. The winters also experience chilly wintry winds that lower the winter temperature in Pench National Park.

FLORA & FAUNA

Experts term the Pench forest as southern tropical dry deciduous and dry mixed deciduous forest with other species of shrubs, trees and climbers. Teak and its associates moyan, mahua, mokha, skiras, tendu, bija, achar, garari, aonla, ghont, baranga, amaltas, kihamali, khair, palas are in abundance. Bamboo occurs sparsely, restricted to some valleys.

With the distinction of a reserve with highest density herbivore population, Pench will definitely not disappoint in terms of game viewing. The tiger and the leopard are the predators who claim fiefdom in Pench.The sloth bear and the leopard cat co-exist with the four-horned antelope and mouse deer. Spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, nilgai and wild boars may also be encountered. Langurs and the wild boars are most commonly sighted. Reptiles like crocodiles, monitor lizard, turtles, Indian pythons, cobra and viper are also found here.

Pench is a bird watcher's paradise, with more than 170 bird species already recorded. It never fails to disappoint a keen eye.

Birds : Hornbills, roofus tree-pie, painted storks, wolly neck storks , black storks, flame back woodpeckers, pied woodpeckers, varieties of kingfishers like common, white breasted, pied, stork-billed, Indian and European rollers, bee eaters, cuckoos, parakeets, Asian palm swift, varieties of owls like dusky eagle owl, collar scof owl, spotted owlet, nightjars, crakes, snipes, sandpipers, gulls, terns, eagles like serpent eagle, changeable hawk eagle, darters, cormorants, orioles, cuckoo-shrikes, minivets, drongos, pittas etc.

IN & AROUND

Sitaghat

Some say this is the prettiest spot in Pench. As the winding track comes to a dead end, it brings you to the bank of the river Pench, dotted with rocks and weird looking trees. In the summer months, bushes with white flowers run all along the bank. To see these flowers in full bloom, it is a must to visit the spot in the morning hours, as they close by early evening. The evening though has a charm of its own here with the light of the low sun painting an amazing scenery with shadows and highlights playing their own game. It is a good spot for bird lovers. Make sure you have your binoculars with you.

Alikatta

The Ali-katta area appears to be the hub around which the park is planned. All tracks seem to wind their way in different directions only to end at Ali-katta. It is a fascinating expanse of grassland, where it is possible to come across any of the animals found in the park. It is one of the few places left in the country where every evening one gets to see the amazing spectacle of large grazing herds of spotted deer. Where there is prey, there will be predators, so keep your eyes open here. It is also the location from where the elephant rides commence.

Ali-katta is also home to Saraswati, a recently born baby elephant (in June 03), who will surely keep visitors enthralled with her antics for a few years to come.

CONSERVATION HISTORY

Pench Tiger Reserve was created in 1992, becoming the 19th Reserve in the Project Tiger network. The core zone of the Reserve, Pench National Park was created in 1983. This was carved out of the Pench Sanctuary created in 1977 with an area of 449.39 sq. km. The area of the Park is 292.85 sq. km., which is divided almost equally in two districts - 145.36 sq. km. in Seoni and 147.28 sq. km. in Chhindwara. The area in Seoni is all Reserve Forest whereas the area in Chhindwara includes 138.24 sq. km. of Reserve forests, 6.26 sq. km. of Protected Forests and 2.78 sq. km. of Revenue Land. The total area of the reserve including the buffer zone is 757.86 sq. km.

ABOUT KANHA

Kanha is tucked away in the Eastern part of the Central-Indian Satpura Range. Legendary for its wilderness, tiger sightings and great birding- Kanha promises to be a special experience. Immensely rich in game, Kanha has the distinction of harboring the last of the highly endangered Hard Ground Barasingha, a major conservation milestone. The vast size of the park makes extended explorations possible and Kanha is a favorite with photographers for its sheer quality of wildlife viewing. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the world's premier conservation institute, had rated Kanha as the best managed park in Asia. It stretches over an area of 940 km² in the two districts Mandla and Balaghat. Together with a surrounding buffer zone of 1009 km² and the neighboring 110 km² Phen Sanctuary it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve. The park is also a good place to see the Leopard, Sloth Bear, Asiatic Wild Dog and Indian Bison.

PARK LANDSCAPE

Kanha is unlike any other place, not just because of the richness of wildlife but also because of the ravines and valleys which made Jungle Book such a treat. Two river valleys are prominent features of the park's topography: the Banjar in the west and the Halon in the east. Both these rivers are tributaries of the Narmada, which flows through the district headquarters town of Mandla, 64 km (40 miles) to the northwest of the park's western entrance. Kanha's valleys are enclosed by hills topped with plateaus- locally called dadar. These plateaus are covered with vast grasslands, the park also has expansive meadows left behind by the villages relocated outside the park. There are many perennial springs that provide the much sought for water in the drier months. Shravantal is the main water body in the central meadows that attracts a lot of wildlife to it. During the greener months Kanha is a landscape photographer's dream come true.

CLIMATE & WEATHER

This national park remains open from 16th October to 30th June for wildlife safari. Like most of the forest of Central India, the weather and climate of Kanha Tiger Reserve is extreme and tropical. In Kanha and surrounding areas, summers are extremely hot and the maximum temperature goes as high as 48º Celsius, while the weather during winter remains cold and sometimes the mercury dips to zero degree celsius. During the monsoons, Kanha receives heavy rains and there is water everywhere in the forest.

Temperature range throughout the year is as follows:

• October - November = 22 - 35 (in degree Celsius)
• December - February = 03 - 20 (in degree Celsius)
• March - April = 18 - 38 (in degree Celsius)
• May - June = 33 - 46 (in degree Celsius)

FLORA & FAUNA

This lowland forest is a mixture of Sal and various other forest trees, interspersed with meadows. The highland forests are tropical moist, dry deciduous type and of a completely different nature with bamboo on the slopes. A very good looking Indian ghost tree (kullu) can also be seen in the dense.

Kanha Tiger Reserve abounds in meadows or maidans which are basically open grasslands that have sprung up in fields of abundant villages, evacuated to make way for the animals. There are many species of grass recorded at Kanha some of which are important for the survival of Barasingha. Dense forested zones with good crown cover has abundant flourishing species of climbers, shrubs and herbs. Aquatic plants in numerous "Tal" (lakes) are life line for migratory and wetland species of birds. The big mammals of Kanha are the charismatic Tiger, the smarter cat leopard and Baloo the sloth bear of "Jungle Book" fame. The list is compounded by presence of super reptiles like the python, russels viper, krait, boa, the keel backs, etc. The Sal paradise of Kanha dosen't disappoint the avid birdwatcher either.

The most abundant prey species for the large predators here is the spotted deer. The sambar deer comes a close second. Along with Sher khan, Kanha also houses many other predators like the ferocious dholes, elusive leopards and the rare sloth bear.
Animals : Common langurs, rhesus macaque, Asiatic jackal, Bengal fox, sloth bear, ratel, gray mongoose, striped hyena, jungle cat, leopard, spotted deer, sambar, chausingha, nilgai and of course the tiger.

Birds : browed fantails, steppe eagles, green pigeons, grey Malabar hornbills, blossom headed parakeets, blue bearded bee eaters, green bee eaters, white bellied drongos, owls, minivets, woodshrikes, paradise flycatchers, etc.

IN & AROUND

Bamini Dadar : One of the highest plateaus in the forest, Bamini dadar is the famed sunset point of Kanha. Visitors head to the sunset point as they wind up their evening safari, to experience the awe-inspiring view of the evening sun over the magnificent Kanha landscape. The barking deer, bison and other ungulates in the foreground don't hurt the view.

Meadows : The high concentration of herbivores in the clearing ensures presence of charismatic carnivores. Exhilarating scenes of a tiger stalking a potential prey in these meadows is often experienced by the tourists.

Shravan Tal : A small water pond in the reserve where the dutiful son, Shravan Kumar was killed. Popular mythological belief is that when Shravan Kumar came to this pond to fetch water for his blind parents- King Dashratha (father of Lord Rama) mistakenly killed Shravan with his bow and arrow. As a result of which Dashratha was cursed by Shravan's parents that he'll also have to undergo the pain of child separation. The pond has water all round the year, so abundance of wildlife can be experienced here.

Lapsi Kabar : This place is built in the memorial of an expert hunter and tracker who had a close encounter with a Tiger while accompanying some sportsmen on a hunt. The gravestone is in his memory.

Dashratha Machan : The dreaded spot near Shravan Tal from where Dashratha killed Shravan Kumar using a bow and arrow. The machan is on a hill called Macha Dongar.

CONSERVATION HISTORY

Both the Banjar and Halon valleys used to be the exclusive hunting grounds of the British. The area then supported the swamp deer or Hard ground barasingha in such large numbers that they virtually dominated the landscape. Over hunting led to the forests being closed to shikar in 1931 and it was declared a sanctuary in 1933. In 1955 a 250 sq. km. area was declared the Kanha National Park, primarily to save the hard ground barasingha, exclusive only to India and severely threatened with extinction (a mere 66). Kanha is known worldwide for its efforts to re-establish populations of the endemic barasingha. It has been revived to a population of around 1000 as of 2006.
By now Kanha was fairly well known and administrators were always on the lookout to expand its protected area. Consequently land from surrounding areas was continually added and today the Kanha Tiger Reserve is a 1,945 sq. km. park and a prime breeding habitat for the endangered cats. In the hot and dry summers all water sources dry up except for a few perennial streams or ponds. One such is a lake near the main meadow called Shravan Tal

KANHA TALES

Social bonding of Gaurs (Bibos gauris)

It was the incident of year-end of 2008. An old aged Gaur (Indian Bison) was attacked by tiger on his rump. It was bleeding profusely which made the Gaur fall down. The tiger sat down in front of him and was waiting for him to die as an injured Gaur becomes more dangerous. Due to severe pain and in-ability of stand-up, Gaur was groaning loudly and kept on attempting to stand up. Hearing the groaning call of the Gaur, a near-by herd of Gaurs reached the spot where the tiger was still present. Young Gaurs charged onto the tiger and pushed him away from site of the injured Gaur. As the news of such an attack spread among theforest guards and through them to safari jeeps, many tourist jeeps started reaching the spot, with expectations of a tiger-sighting. The park management feared crowding at the location and banned the safari jeeps from entering that particular site for a few days. It was observed that the herd of those Gaurs remained there till the death of the injured Gaur. As soon as they left the place, the tiger that had attacked the Gaur, came back to claim his meal.

How Kanha got its name

There are various stories about how Kanha got its name. Some believe that its name is derived from Kanhar, a clayey soil found in the area. Others believe that there was a holy saint called Kanva who lived in this area and the word 'Kanha' , is inspired from his name.