Pench National Park

For Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh, see Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh.

Pench National Park, nestling in the lower southern reaches of the satpuda hills is named after Pench river, meandering through the park from north to south. It is located on the southern boundary of Madhya Pradesh, bordering Maharashtra, in the districts of Seoni and Chhindwara.Pench National Park, comprising 758 km², out of which a core area of 299 km² of Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park and the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary and remaining 464 km² of pench national park is the buffer area.

The area of the present tiger reserve has a glorious history. A description of its natural wealth and richness occurs in Ain-i-Akbari. Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighbourhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling's most famous work, The Jungle Book.

History

Pench National Park [Hindi: पेंच राष्ट्रीय उद्यान] is situated to the south of Satpura Hills. It is named so after the name of the river Pench which flows through this area. This is the 19th project tiger reserve in India and was declared so in 1992. It has tropical moist deciduous forest.

The area was declared as Pench national park(Maharashtra) by the Government of Maharashtra vide notification number R&F.D./1395/212768/F-1 dated 22-11-75 with an area of 257.26 square kilo meter. Government of India declared the area as Pench tiger reserve vide their notification number III(I)-25/98-PT dated 11-2-99. This was reinforced with Government of Maharashtra declaration of Pench National Park as Pench Tiger Reserve vide Resolution number WLp-1095/CR-110/F-1 dated 23-2-99.

Location

The Pench National Park is located in Southern Madhya Pradesh in India, about 70 km from the city of Nagpur. Spread over an area of 275 km² 90% of area is in the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh rest 10% in Maharashtra.

Vegetation

The vegetation here is typical of the southern tropical deciduous forest. The common animals which can be seen are the gaur, sambhars, blue bulls, macaque, langur, wild boar, bears and wild dogs and the Park is well known for its deers and leopards. A few tigers and civets can also be spotted sometimes.

Wildlife

The prey concentration is highest along the banks of the river Pench. The Pench national park has a count of 8 tigers (as in 1998) and 7 panthers (as in 1998).This national park is rich with chitals i.e. axis axis or more commonly spotted deer. There are 10 villages in the national park - 1 inside the park (Fulzari) and 9 on the periphery.

As per 2011 Tiger Census ; There are 25 tigers under this umbrella of the Park. 39 species of mammals, 13 species of reptiles, 3 species of amphibians. Apart from mammals and other land-based wildlife, the park is also rich in bird life. According to an estimation of the wildlife authorities, the bird population in the park counts to be over 210 species like barbets, bulbul, minivets orioles, wagtails, munias, mynas, waterfowls and blue kingfishers.

Visiting Times & Nearest Station

The best time to visit the park is between February and April. The Park is open to visitors between 6 am to 10:30 am and 3 pm to 6 pm. The park remains closed during the months of July, August and September. It can be accessed by road as well as railway. The nearest rail-head is at Ramtek and a bus can be taken for the next 35 km to the Park. Other important natural forests in Maharashtra like the Nagzira Sanctuary and the Navegaon National Park are also close to Pench.

Ref in Popular Culture

Pench forest reserve, is the setting for Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

The Pench national park provided the location used by the BBC for the innovative wildlife series Tiger: Spy in the Jungle, a 3 part documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough which used concealed cameras, placed by elephants, in order to capture intimate tiger behavior. The programme aired for the first time in April 2008.

References

• Wildlife Times: The Central Indian Tiger Pilgrimage - A trip report
• UN List of NPs