Kanha is situated in Madhya Pradesh. Kanha's Sal and bamboo forests, rolling grassland and meandering streams stretch over 940 sq km in dramatic natural splendor. Kanha National Park forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve created in 1974 under Project Tiger. The park is the only habitat of the rare hard ground barasingha.
In the 1930s, the Khana area was divided into two sanctuaries, Gallon and Banjar, of 250 sq km and 300 sq km each. Though one of these was subsequently disbanded, the area remained a protected one until 1947. Depletion of the tiger population in the years that followed led to the area being made an absolute sanctuary in 1952.
By a special statute in 1955, Khana National Park came into being. Since then, a series of stringent conservation programmes for the protection of the park's flora and fauna has given Khana it's deserved reputation for being one of the best and finest administered National Parks in Asia.
Forest Department guides accompany visitors around the park on mapped-out circuits which enable viewers to see a good cross-section of Kanha's wildlife. The best areas are the meadows around Kanha, where black buck, chital and barasingha can be seen throughout the day.
Kanha has some 22 species of mammals. Those most easily spotted are the stripped palm squirrel, common langur, jackal, wild pig, chital or spotted dear, barasingha or swamp dear, sambar and black buck.
Patient watching should reward the visitor with a sight of Indian fox, sloth bear, striped hyena, jungle cat, leopard, mouse deer, chausingha or four horned antelope, nilgai, ratel and procupine. Wolf can be seen far east of the park, chinkara can be found outside the park's northern boundary. Indian pangolin, the smooth Indian otter and the small Indian civet are also the rarely seen species.
Kanha has some 200 species of birds. Watchers shoud station themselves in the hills, where you can see bamboo forest and other species of flora. Water birds can be seen near the park's many rivulets and at Sarvantal, a pool that is frequented by water birds and the area in front of the museum. The sal forests do not normally yield a sight of Kanha's avifauna. Early mornings and late afternoons are best for bird watching, binoculars are an invaluable aid to the watchers. Commonly seen birds are cattle egret, pond heron, black Ibis, common peafowl, crested serpent eagle, racket-tailed drongo, hawk, red wattled lapwing, dove, parakeet, woodpecker, Indian roller and grey hornbill.
Bamni Dadar known as Sunset Point, this is one of the most beautiful areas of the park, from where a spectacular sunset can be watched.
October to June is the best time to visit Kanha National Park. The park is closed from 1st July to 30th September due to rains. For those planning a visit, a stay of at at least three nights is recommended in order to have a good chance of seeing the more elusive animals.
Kanha Museum
This is a unique natural history museum that preserves skeletons of reptiles and animals and houses an exhibition of the wildlife conservation work done in Kanha and an audio library of sounds of birds.
Things To Do
1.Enjoy walking and cycling in the pristine air of buffer zone.
2.Take a safari in open Jeep (all days except Wednesday afternoons).
3.Visit the nearby villages to experience life in remote jungle- Sarekha (15 km from kiski gate), Garhi (20 km from Mukki gate), Lagna(5 km from Mukki gate), Mocha (10 km from Mukki gate)
4.Shop for souvenir at the Khatia gate.
