Kanha Tiger Reserve, also known as Kanha–Kisli National Park, is one of the tiger reserves of India and the largest

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

of the state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. It covers an area of in the two districts

Mandla Mandla is a city with municipality in Mandla district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandla District. The city is situated in a loop of the Narmada River, which surrounds it on three sides, and ...

and Balaghat. The park hosts

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...

, Indian leopard, sloth bear, barasingha and dhole. It is also the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot, Bhoorsingh the Barasingha.

Geography

Kanha Tiger Reserve encompasses an area of in the two districts

and Balaghat in

. It is divided into two protected areas, Hallon and Banjar, of , respectively. Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955 and was designated tiger reserve in 1973. Together with a surrounding

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

of and the neighbouring Phen Sanctuary, it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve, which is one of the biggest in the country. This makes it the largest national park in

central India Central India refers to a geographical region of India that generally includes the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Central Zonal Council, established by the Government of India, includes these states as well as Uttar Prades ...

Flora

One afternoon at the Kanha National Park

The lowland forest in Kanha Tiger Reserve is a mixture of sal (''

Shorea robusta ''Shorea robusta'', the sal tree, sāla, shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions. Evolution Fossil evidence from lig ...

'') and other mixed-forest trees, interspersed with

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

s. The highland forests are tropical moist, dry deciduous with bamboo ('' Dendrocalamus strictus'') on slopes and Indian ghost tree ('' Sterculia urens'').

Fauna

Kanha Tiger Reserve hosts populations of chital, sambar, barasingha, gaur,

, Indian leopard, dhole, sloth bear, Indian jackal and Bengal fox. The barasingha is adapted to swampy areas. The gaur inhabits meadows and waterholes in the park.

Blackbuck The blackbuck (''Antilope cervicapra''), also known as the Indian antelope, is a medium-sized antelope native to India and Nepal. It inhabits grassy plains and lightly forested areas with perennial water sources. It stands up to high at the sh ...

has become very rare. The reserve hosts around 300 species of birds and the most commonly seen birds are the black ibis, Asian green bee-eater, cattle egret, plum-headed parakeet, Indian pond heron, drongo, common teal, crested serpent eagle, Indian grey hornbill,

Indian roller The Indian roller (''Coracias benghalensis'') is a bird of the family Coraciidae. It is long with a wingspan of and weighs . The face and throat are pinkish, the head and back are brown, with blue on the rump and contrasting light and dark bl ...

, lesser adjutant,

little grebe The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Latin ...

, lesser whistling teal, minivet, Malabar pied hornbill, woodpeckers, pigeon,

Indian paradise flycatcher The Indian paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone paradisi'') is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia, where it is widely distributed. As the global population is considered stable, it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List sin ...

, hill myna, Indian peafowl,

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the a ...

, red-wattled lapwing, steppe eagle, Tickell's blue flycatcher, white-eyed buzzard, white-breasted kingfisher, white-browed fantail, wood shrikes, warblers, and vultures among many more.

Reintroduction of barasingha

An exciting conservation effort in this national park is the reintroduction of barasingha. In 1938, there were more than 3000 Barasingha in the Kanha National Park, but their number declined to 66 in 1966-67 due to loss of ideal habitat. Due to conservation efforts and grassland management, the number of Barasingha rose to more than 2,000 in 2024. In 2015, 98 Barasingha were reintroduced to Satpura Tiger Reserve.

Tiger conservation

Members of the Baiga tribe, a semi-nomadic tribe of central India that is reliant on the forest, lived in 28 villages that had been within Kanha National Park until 1968, when they were relocated. The relocation was part of an effort to maintain a critical tiger habitat. The land to which they were relocated is barren and they now suffer from malnourishment. The last of the villages to be relocated for the tiger habitat is in the core zone of the Kanha Tiger Reserve. In January 2010, Baiga tribe were illegally evicted from the park without proper compensation by the government. In its efforts to maintain and restore tiger habitats, WWF-India has worked to create corridors that support the tigers and their prey, thereby stabilizing the tiger population. This includes efforts to prevent loss of life or property of humans, reduce human dependency on the forest, and reduce retaliatory killings of tigers when people have experienced losses.

References

External links

{{authority control Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests National parks in Madhya Pradesh Tiger reserves of India Balaghat Mandla Protected areas established in 1955 Wildlife conservation in India 1955 establishments in India