Kanha National Park

About the Park

Tiger at Kanha National ParkKanha National Park is one of the most striking national parks in the Maikal range that proves to be the most inspiring place for the creative creatures. Creatures that don't live in the jungles but have great fascinations for the jungles, the intelligent creatures, the human being, who have great alluring for the wildlife and natural bewilderment. Among those intelligent creatures, the most notable writer and novelist of 18th century Rudyard Kipling once visited this place, the place which is the perfect home to magnanimous counts of Barasingha, the Swamp Deer. And to the curiosity of many, the invention of "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling was the result of the perfect inspiration of Kanha and the nearby areas.

With tropical based climate, summers at Kanha are so rigorous to be reached up to 43° C but the central highland area of Madhya Pradesh is also uniquely being doused with heavily monsoon pours with the average rainfall of 1800 mm to make the surrounding more scenic and greenish. On the contrary, winters can be found more shivering in the dense jungles of Kanha to drop the mercury level by -2°C.

History

Kanha Tiger ReserveOriginally a part of the Gondwanas (i.e. the land of the Gonds) in the year 1880, the Kanha Tiger Reserve (at an altitude range of 600m-870 m) was inhabited by two major tribes of Central India, the Gonds and the Baigas which is still being captured by these tribes at its outskirts and then later was entranced by two major sanctuaries, the Hallon and the Banjar sanctuaries by covering the areas of 250 sq km and 300 sq km respectively. In the year 1862, Kanha was inhibited by the forest management rules where many illegal acts were prohibited in the jungle. Further, in 1879, the area was declared as a reserve forest by extending its parts into 1949 sq km and with the introduction of "The Jungle Book", the amazing landscape of Kanha and Pench came into recognition in 1880. The history of Kanha National Park became more interesting when in the year 1933, Kanha was declared as a sanctuary after receiving notable appreciation from worldwide due to its unmatchable landscape and amazing highland beauty. Gradually, many naturalists found Kanha as the premier national park in India and in 1991 and in 2001 Kanha National Park was honored as the most tourism friendly national park in India by the Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of India.

Wildlife in Kanha

The Kanha National Park is reckoned as the perfect habitat for large amount of herbivores and carnivores animals. Tourists can discover the abundant varieties of wildlife. It is the only location in India where the most abundant variety of Barasingha can be found and so does to call them as the "Jewel of Kanha".

Some of the commonly found wildlife in Kanha National Park :

Kanha National ParkMammals : Tiger, Panther, Sambar, Barasingha, Chital, Black Buck, Barking Deer, Gaur, Langur, Wild Pig, Jackal, Chousingha, Sloth Bear, Wild Dog.

Reptiles : Python, Indian Cobra, Indian Krait, Russell's Viper, Indian Monitor, Common Rat Snake, Common Skink, Fan Throated Lizard and Indian Garden Lizard etc.

Fishes : Giant Danio, Mud Perches, Common Rasbora, Brown Snakehead and Green Snakehead.

Birds : The Reserve brings around 300 species of birds and the most commonly seen birds are the Black Ibis, Bee-eaters, Cattle Egret, Pond Heron, Drongos, Blossom-Headed Parakeets, Common Teal, Grey Hornbill, Crested Serpent Eagle, Indian roller, Lesser Adjutant Stork, Little Grebes, Lesser Adjutants, Lesser Whistling Teal, Minivets, Pied Hornbill, Woodpecker, Pigeon, Paradise Flycatchers, Mynas, Red Wattled Lapwing, Peafowl, Red Jungle Fowl, Steppe Eagle, Tickell's Flycatcher, White-eyed Buzzard, White-breasted Kingfisher, White-browed Fantail Flycatcher, Wood shrikes and more.

Kanha Safaris

For the most bewildering safari moments, 04 WD Open Jeep Safari is the coolest option to observe the wilderness of Kanha very closely and clearly. The 04*04 Open Jeep with the group of tourists is allowed in the park vicinity at fixed timings along with the company of an experienced naturalist. In Kanha, the tourists can find four different zones namely Kisli, Mukki, Kanha & Sarhi for enjoying the jeep safari rides. The added advantage of Kanha safari is that the wildlife lovers can easily make the online booking for the entry tickets or even get it from the tour operators if available, the entry tickets can also be collected from the booking window at the entrance gate of the national park. For additional services like vehicle charges and guide fee are other expenses which are demanded during the Kanha safari tour and are termed under the additional expenses other than the entry tickets.

At Kanha vicinity, a single day jeep safari can be done at two times, once in the morning shift and the other shift is for late afternoon safari in a six-seated open vehicle. In each vehicle 6 passengers are allowed to travel along with one naturalist and one driver. Noticeably, only limited no of vehicles are permitted to enter inside the forest in each shift. It is advisable to book the entrance ticket in well advance to avoid any chance of unavailability of safari seats.

Safari vehicles are generally permitted to enter inside the national park in every shift :

Safari Zones Kisli Zone Kanha Zone Mukki Zone Sarhi Zone

Morning Shift 18 40 40 27

Afternoon Shift 18 40 40 27

Kanha National Park remains open for the visitors from 16th October to 30th June. Considering that the safari timings are :