Kanha National Park

Geography

India offers many popular national parks, which are natural habitats of various animals, and rare species. A wildlife tour in India would take you to the famous Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, one of the finest wildlife parks in the country. This national park is spread out over an area of 940 sq. km. The park is home to over 22 different species of mammals and some 200-bird species and is well placed in a horseshoe shaped valley.
The Kanha National Park is an excellent place for wildlife viewing and photography, especially for the nature lovers. The abundance of wildlife species exists today in Kanha National park, which forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve created in 1974 under Project tiger. The grasslands at Kanha are interspersed with forests of Sal, teeming with varieties of deer - the barasingha, chital, chousingha, nilgai, the majestic gaur and the wild pig. It is ideal for viewing both the predator and the prey.

History

The name Kanha itself may be derived from kanhar, the local term for the clayey soil in the valley bottoms, or from Kanva, a holy man who once lived there in a forest village. The soil is rich enough to provide the perfect vegetation for the local areas. Four principal vegetation types have been identified in Kanha: moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forest, valley meadow, and plateau meadow. The park consists of a core area of 940 km2, which is surrounded by a buffer zone of 1,005 km2, thus comprising a total area of 1,945 km2.
The visitors to the park are also well educated on the park and the creatures living there in there habitats. Our expedition leaders know where to look for wildlife, vastly increasing your viewing opportunities. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable, our guides have educational backgrounds in the natural sciences and enjoy explaining the animals' habits and life histories, as well as how different species interact with their environment. This provides education with entertainment to our visitors to the park.

Flora & Fauna

Kanha's flora, or plant life, is the underpinning of the park's entire ecosystem. Tigers could not live here without prey, such as chital, sambar, wild boar, and barasingha. These animals, in turn, could not subsist without the forage that the plant life furnishes them. Langurs, sloth bears, and birds depend on fruits, flowers, nectar, and forbs for survival. Insects, spiders, and trees have a complex, interdependent set of relationships, in which spiders help to regulate the defoliant pressures on trees by controlling the insect population. Termites, whose digestive system turns decaying vegetation into soil-enriching nutrients, are a major item in the sloth bear's diet, exemplifying dynamic linkages among insects, plant life, and one of the park's major mammals. In these and many other similar examples, an ecosystem approach is, as always, the key to a more sensitive, accurate understanding and appreciation of the park.
The sal tree (Shorea robusta) and various species of bamboo (especially Dendrocalamus strictus) are the most prominent features of Kanha's extensive flora. These species have complex, distinctive flowering patterns, with sal blooming annually over a period of several months and deciduous throughout the year, and many bamboo species flowering only once during an extremely long life cycle that may span several decades.Officials have estimated that Kanha is home to more than 600 species of flowering plants. A list of 50 water plants was included in the Kanha Management Plan of 1988-89 (Kotwal and Parihar, 1989). Aquatic plants such as water lilies are of considerable importance to the barasingha.


Major Wildlife Attractions of Kanha
Spotting wild animals is always a matter of luck but Kanha is so rich in wildlife that the odds are titled in your favour. First time visitors are often so keen to spot the larger animals that they overlook the smaller ones. There are 175 varieties of birds in Kanha. So if you happen to be bird watcher, look forward to a full bird show. Most people are keener to meet Kanha's major attraction, the Tiger; still one has to be patient to spot one.
But while on a mission to find a tiger, one can easily catch glimpses of all the grazers, a Porcupine, many Gray Langurs, Mongoose, Hyena, Jungle Cat, even a Leopard. Other wild attractions in this Tiger country include varieties of Deer - the Barasingha, Chital or Spotted Deer, Chousingha, Nilgai, as well as the majestic Gaur or Indian Bison and wild Pig.
Elephant Safari : The animals at Kanha are best observed from the elephant back and the open country makes the chance of sightings reasonably good.
Kanha Museum : There is a museum at Kanha national park, depicting attributes and activities of the park and the tribal culture of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Bamni Dadar: Known as Sunset Point, this is one of Hardground Barasingha is found only at Kanha The most beautiful areas of the park, from where a spectacular sunset can be watched. The dense luxuriance of Kanha's forests can best be seen from here. Animals that can be sighted around this point are typical of the mixed forest zone: sambar, barking deer, gaur and the four-horned antelope.
Mammalian Species: Kanha has some 22 species of mammals. Those most easily spotted are the striped palm squirrel, common langur, jackal, wild pig, chital or spotted deer, barasingha or swamp deer, sambar and blackbuck.

Kanha National Park Climate

although the cool season is much more comfortable and still very good for wildlife. (The park is closed from July 1 to October 31 because of the monsoon). For those planning a visit, a stay of at least three nights is recommended in order to have a good chance of seeing the more elusive animals - although, of course, a brief visit will also be very interesting.

Park Visiting Time

1. 15 November to 15 February - Sunrise to 12.00 noon and 3.00 pm to Sunset.
2. 16 February to 30 April - Sunrise to 1200 noon and 4.00 pm to Sunset.
3. 1 May to 30 June - Sunrise to 11.00 am and 5.00 pm to Sunset .

How To Reach Kanha National Park

Flight : Nagpur at 266-kms is the nearest Airport to visit Kanha National Park and is connected by various domestic airline services with Mumbai.

Train : Jabalpur at 169-kms is the convenient rail head to visit Kanha.

Road : Kanha National Park is connected by road with Jabalpur 175-kms, Khajuraho 445-kms, Nagpur 266-kms, Mukki 25-kms, Raipur 219-kms. Within the park: Koshi - Kanha (9-kms), Kishi - Katia (4-kms), Kishi - Mukki (32-kms). There are regular to and fro bus service available from Jabalpur to Kanha.