Pench Tiger Reserve or Pench National Park is a tiger reserve in India straddling across

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 ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. On the Madhya Pradesh side, it encompasses a core area of , with a buffer of , making for a total protected area of . On the Maharashtra side, the Pench Tiger Reserve has a core habitat area of along with a buffer zone of making total protected area of . Pench Tiger Reserve comprises Pench National Park, Mowgli Pench Sanctuary and a buffer area, which span more than .

History

This area was described as extremely rich and diverse in wildlife from the earliest records available on the 16th century Deogarh kingdom (Kumar 1989). The scenery and floral and faunal diversity of the Central Indian Highlands have been well documented by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

since the late 17th century, e.g. Forsyth's (1919) "Highlands of Central India" (first published in 1871). Thereafter, Sterndale (1887) and Brander (1923) have added to the knowledge on the distribution of the flora, fauna and the local inhabitants of this tract. The fictional works of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

, ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

'' and '' The Second Jungle Book'', are set in the region. Kipling himself never visited the area, instead basing his descriptions on other locations in India. During the 17th century, the Gond rulers of this region cleared large tracts of forests for cultivation and dwellings. This onslaught continued up to 1818, through the rule by the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

and later under the British. It was not until 1862 that efforts were made to control the indiscriminate destruction and the forests were declared

reserved Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the flagship brand of the LPP (company), LPP group, which has more than 2,200 retail stores located in over 38 countries and also owns su ...

(elaborated in Kumar 1989). The Pench Sanctuary was created in September 1977, with an initial area of 449.39 km². The Pench National Park, recently renamed as Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, was created in 1983, carved out of the Sanctuary. The Tiger Reserve, 19th in the series, was formed under the Project Tiger scheme in November 1992. It is notable that the Bor Wildlife Sanctuary and some adjacent protected areas will be merged with Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra), as a 'Satellite core area', to more than double the area of that tiger reserve.

Geography

Pench Tiger Reserve located in Seoni district and

Chhindwara district Chhindwara district () is a List of districts of Madhya Pradesh, district of Madhya Pradesh state in India, and Chhindwara town is the district headquarters. Chhindwara was the largest district in Madhya Pradesh with an area of 10,293 square k ...

of Madhya Pradesh and

Nagpur district Nagpur district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is a Districts of Maharashtra, district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nagpur is the district administrative centre. The district ...

of Maharashtra. It gets its name from the Pench River that flows north to south through the reserve. The Pench River bisects the original Pench core reserve into two nearly equal parts; the of the Western Block which falls in the Gumtara Range of the

forest division and the of the Eastern Block in the Karmajhiri Range of the Seoni district forest division. The Reserve lies in the southern lower reaches of the

Satpura Range The Satpura Range, formerly also known as the Seeonee Hills, is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range paralle ...

of hills. Pench Tiger Reserve derives its name from its life line, the Pench River. Inside the park, the river flows from north to south before joining the

Kanhan River The Kanhan River is an important right bank tributary of the Wainganga River draining a large area lying south of Satpura range in central India. Along its 275 km run through the Indian States of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, it receives ...

. The Meghdoot dam built across Pench River at Totaladoh has created a large water body of out of which falls in Madhya Pradesh and the rest in the adjoining state of Maharashtra. The Pench River emerges from Mahadeo Hills of

and the various ''nallas'' and streams which drain into it.

Climate

The Central Indian Highlands have a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

al climate, with a distinct monsoon (July to September), winter (November to February) and summer (April to June). The mean annual rainfall is around 1400 mm, with the south-west monsoon accounting for most of the rainfall in the region. For the dry season (November to May), the mean rainfall was 59.5 mm, and the temperature varies from a minimum of 0 °C in winter to 45 °C in summer.

Flora

Pench Tiger Reserve belongs to the Indo-Malayan phytogeographical region and is categorized as a tropical moist

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

habitat. Floristically, Pench Tiger Reserve can be classified, according to Champion and Seth (1968) as Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests and Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests.

Teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

is a ubiquitous species in the region, with a presence ranging from a sporadic distribution in most parts of the study area to localized teak-dominated patches. Teak (Tectona grandis), and associated species such as

Madhuca indica ''Madhuca longifolia'' is an Indian tropical tree found largely in the central, southern, north Indian plains and forests, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is commonly known as madhūka, mahura, , mahuwa, Butter Tree, mahura, mahwa, ...

Diospyros melanoxylon ''Diospyros melanoxylon'', the Coromandel ebony or East Indian ebony, is a species of flowering tree in the family Ebenaceae native to India and Sri Lanka; it has a hard, dry bark. Its common name derives from Coromandel, the coast of southe ...

, Terminalia tomentosa,

Buchanania lanzan ''Buchanania lanzan'', commonly known as charoli nut, almondette, Cuddapah almond, calumpong, Hamilton mombin, is a deciduous tree in the family Anacardiaceae. The charoli tree is native to the Indian subcontinent, South Central China, and much ...

, Lagerstroemia parviflora, Ougeinia dalbergoides,

Miliusa velutina ''Miliusa velutina'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Annonaceae, native to parts of Asia from India in the west to Vietnam in the east. Vernacular names കാനക്കൈത , വില്ലൂന്നി (Malayalam) Phenol ...

and Lannea coromandalica, occur on flat terrain. The undulating terrain and hill slopes have patches of Mixed Forest dominated by

Boswellia serrata ''Boswellia serrata'' is a plant that produces Indian frankincense. The plant is native to much of India and the Punjab region that extends into Pakistan. Sustainability ''Boswellia serrata'' is currently at risk of being eradicated because of n ...

and

Anogeissus latifolia ''Terminalia anogeissiana'' is a species of small to medium-sized trees native to the Indian subcontinent only. Its common names are axlewood (English), ''bakli, baajhi, dhau, dhawa, dhawra, dhawda'', or ''dhaora'' (Hindi). It is one of the mo ...

. Species like Sterculia urens and Gardenia latifolia are found scattered on rocky slopes.

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

forests occur in the hill slopes and along streams. Some of the open patches of the Park are covered with tall grasses interspersed with

Butea monosperma ''Butea monosperma'' is a species of '' Butea'' native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also known as flame of the forest, Bengal kino, dhak, palash, and bastard teak. Revered as sacred by Hindus, it is ...

and Zizyphus mauritiana. Evergreen tree species like

Terminalia arjuna ''Terminalia arjuna'' is a tree of the genus '' Terminalia''. It is commonly known as arjuna or arjun tree in English. It is used as a traditional medicinal plant. Description ''T. arjuna'' grows to about 20–25 metres tall; usually has a buttr ...

Syzygium cumini ''Syzygium cumini'', commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is ...

and Ixora parviflora are found in

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

vegetation along nullahs and river banks. Cleistanthus collinus dominant patches are also found in some parts of the Tiger Reserve. The tracts that previously formed pastures of villages (subsequently relocated outside the National Park limits) now constitute open grassy meadows much favoured by the gregarious herbivores. With the approach of summer, the extent of open areas of the Reserve gradually increases with the recession of reservoir's waters.

Fauna

Zoogeographically, the Reserve falls in Oriental region. The

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...

fauna is represented by the

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 ...

(''Panthera tigris tigris''),

Indian leopard The Indian leopard (''Panthera pardus fusca'') is a subspecies of the leopard (''P. pardus''). It is widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. It is threatened by illegal trade of skins and body parts, and persecution due to human-leopard ...

(''Panthera pardus''),

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

(''Cuon alpinus''),

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native from the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Caucasus to parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, ...

(''Felis chaus''), and

small Indian civet The small Indian civet (''Viverricula indica'') is a civet native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its widespread distribution, widespread habitat use and healthy populations living in agr ...

(''Viverricula indica'').

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

(''Canis lupus pallipes'') occur on the fringes and outside the Reserve limits.

Striped hyena The striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena'') is a species of hyena native to North and East Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Hyaena''. It is listed by the IU ...

(''Hyaena hyaena''),

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus''), also known as the Indian bear, is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of ...

(''Melursus ursinus''),

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

(''Canis aureus''), and

Asian palm civet The Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''), also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad range o ...

(''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus'') make up the rest of the carnivore fauna of the Reserve.

Chital The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also called spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, mal ...

(''Axis axis''), sambar (''Cervus unicolor''),

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

(''Bos gaurus''),

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Boselaphus'', which was ...

(''Boselaphus tragocamelus''), wild pig (''Sus scrofa''),

Indian muntjac The Northern red muntjac (''Muntiacus vaginalis'') is a species of muntjac. It is found in numerous countries of south-central and southeast Asia. The northern red muntjac inhabits various forest types, from tropical rainforests to deciduous an ...

(''Muntiacus muntjac'') and chowsingha (''Tetraceros quadricornis''), are the wild

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...

species found in the study area. Chital, sambar, nilgai and wild pigs are found all over the Tiger Reserve. With the distribution of water governing their movement patterns to a great extent, gaur migrate down from the hills during the dry season and occupy the forests along the Pench River and other sources of water, and migrate back to the hill forests during the monsoon. Nilgai are found mostly in a few open areas, along forest roads, scrub jungles and fringe areas of the Reserve. Chowsingha are more localized to the greatly undulating areas of the Reserve. Barking deer are seen infrequently in moist riverine stretches.

Chinkara The chinkara (''Gazella bennettii''), also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to India, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taxonomy The following six subspecies are considered valid: * Deccan chinkara (''G. b. bennettii'') ...

(''Gazella bennetti'') are infrequently seen on the open areas bordering and outside the Buffer Zone of the Reserve (e.g. Turia, Telia, and Dudhgaon). The common

northern plains gray langur The northern plains gray langur (''Semnopithecus entellus''), also known as the sacred langur, Bengal sacred langur and Hanuman langur, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Taxonomy The northern plains gray langur belongs to th ...

(''Semnopithecus entellus'') and

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

(''Macaca mulatta'') represent the primate fauna of the area. The

Indian porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. De ...

(''Hystrix indica''), two species of

mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family has two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, A ...

viz.

Indian grey mongoose The Indian grey mongoose or Asian grey mongoose (''Urva edwardsii'') is a mongoose species native to the Indian subcontinent and West Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The grey mongoose inhabits open forests, scrubland ...

(''Urva edwardsii'') and ruddy mongoose (''Urva smithii''), and

Indian hare The Indian hare (''Lepus nigricollis''), also known as the black-naped hare, is a common species of hare native to the Indian subcontinent, and Java. Its habitat in Java is in rocky highlands. Description The Indian hare is of medium size compar ...

(''Lepus nigricollis'') also occur in this Tiger Reserve.

Famous tigers

One of the tigresses in the reserve, Badi Mada or Barimada ('Big Mother'), became well known for giving birth to 29 cubs over 17 years. Collarwali, a daughter of Badi Mada, starred with her mother in the BBC Wildlife Special '' Tiger: Spy in the Jungle'', which popularised the reserve. She became one of India's best known tigers, giving birth to 26 cubs in 7 litters and 29 cubs in 8 litters by her death in January 2022 at the age of 16. Born in 2005 and initially dubbed T-15, she acquired the name Collarwali ('The One With a Collar') after being the first tigress in the park fitted with a

radio collar GPS animal tracking is a process whereby biologists, scientific researchers, or conservation agencies can remotely observe relatively fine-scale movement or migratory patterns in a free-ranging wild animal using the Global Positioning System ( ...

, in 2008. She was unusually large for a female and because she was comparatively friendly, was the most frequently seen tiger in the park. In 2010 she gave birth to an unusually large litter, 5 cubs. Of Collarwali's cubs, records indicate 14 of the 18 born by 2013 and 17 of the 22 from her first 6 litters survived to adulthood. They have dispersed to other parts of Pench and some may have crossed over to other tiger reserves such as Kanha National Park. For example, in December 2010,male T-39, born in her second litter in October 2008, travelled more than 50 km to near the boundary of the reserve. She died in January 2022 and was cremated by a local tribal leader. BobchakPTR

The Baghin nala female or Baghinnalawali female, a littermate of Collarwali, was so-named because she established a territory close to a ''nullah'' (watercourse). Although shy, she was popular with tourists visiting Pench. However, on 28 and 29 March 2016, she and two 8-month-old cubs were found dead inside the core area of the tiger reserve, not far from a patrolling camp.

Post-mortem examination An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death; ...

confirmed poisoning, and three men were arrested in early April, suspected of poisoning a deer that the tigers had eaten.

Research in Pench

Long-term research in Pench was initiated by the study on the interactions between wild animal and their habitat in the Pench Sanctuary by Shukla (1990). This was followed by a tiger-prey estimation study by Karanth and Nichols (1998). Since 1995 the

Wildlife Institute of India The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an autonomous natural resource service institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change, Government of Indi ...

has initiated a series of studies beginning with a long-term

radio telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', and ...

study on the gaur (Bos frontalis) (Sankar et al. 2000a), followed by the creation of a spatial mapping

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

for the Tiger Reserve (Sankar et al. 2000b). Short-term Master's studies at the

increased the knowledge on

avifauna Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

(Jayapal 1997), wild herbivores (Acharya 1997) tiger food habits and the diversity and distribution of the avifauna in Pench Tiger Reserve.

Threats

Wildlife in Pench Tiger Reserve is threatened by

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

gangs working in and around Pench Tiger Reserve. In 2016, a tigress and her cubs were killed by poisoning. Another notorious series of incidents occurred in 2017.

References

Sources

* Acharya, B. B. 1997. Habitat Occupancy by Wild Ungulates In Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. M.Sc. Thesis. Saurashtra University, Rajkot.
Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra State by Ocean Software Technologies
* Acharya, B. B. 2008. The Ecology of the Dhole or Asiatic Wild Dog (''Cuon alpinus'') in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. Ph.D. Thesis. Saurashtra University, Rajkot. * Champion, H. G., and S. K. Seth. 1968. A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Manager of Publications, Government of India, New Delhi. * Forsyth, J. 1919. The Highlands of Central India: Notes on the Forests and Wild Tribes, Natural History and Sports. Chapman and Hall, London, (First published 1871). * Jayapal, R. 1997. A Study On Bird Communities-Habitat Structure Relationships In Pench National Park, M.P. M.Sc. Thesis. Saurashtra University, Rajkot. * * Kumar, S. 1989. Management Plan of Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh (1990–1995). Unpublished. Madhya Pradesh Forest Department. * Sankar, K., Q. Qureshi, M.K.S. Pasha, and G. Areendran, G. 2000a. Ecology of gaur Bos gaurus in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. Final Report. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. * Sankar, K., Q. Quresh, V.B. Mathur, S.K. Mukherjee, G. Areendran, M.K.S. Pasha, R. Thapa and P. Lal. 2000b. Mapping of the Protected Area (PA) and surrounding areas in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun * Shukla, R. 1990. An ecological study of interactions between wild animals and vegetation in Pench Wildlife Sanctuary and its environs. Ph.D. Thesis, Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar. 249 p. * Sterndale, R. A. 1887. Seonee, or Camp Life on the Satpura Range. Thacker, Spink and Co., Calcutta and Simla.

External links

{{Tiger Reserves Of India Tiger reserves of India Wildlife sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh Chhindwara district Seoni district 1977 establishments in Madhya Pradesh Protected areas established in 1977