Pench National Park

Pench National Park is a tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh in India. Under the aegis of Project Tiger Program the conservation unit aims to protect tigers living in its forest habitats. The Program aims to increase tiger population in the country and conserve their habitats.

There are forty five tigers in Pench and efforts are being made to increase their population here. In recent times the park has witnessed more tiger activity and breeding suggesting a move towards success.

Situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh Pench Tiger Reserve encompasses around seven hundred square kilometers. The area is divided into core and buffer zone. The areas lies in the Seoni Hills in Seoni District. 

The Central Indian preserve exhibits amazing biodiversity and was once contiguous with Kanha National Park. The prime animal is the tiger besides the preserve is home to leopard, Indian wolf, hyena, sloth bear, wild dog, Nilgai, barking deer, sambar, four horned deer and spotted deer. The latter is the main prey base of the Bengal tigers.  

This is where Mowgli the Wolf Child was discovered by Lt. Moor and was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in "Jungle Book". The book highlights the escapades of the wolf child and his friends the Tabaki , Baloo the Bear, Baghira, Kaa and Sher Khan.The pristine forests are a sheer joy for the visitors on tiger safari and the best place in the wild to see the tigers.  

Pench is renowned for its tiger safaris. The main gate of the Park is at Turia about ten km from Khawasa on Jabalpur Nagpur Highway. The preserve is about 200 km from Jabalpur and 80 km from Nagpur both are connected by air with New Delhi. Pench is about six hours drive from Kanha.

Tiger Safari

Pench has received much publicity after BBC filmed its tigers. Some other films have also been made on tigers of Pench. The tiger safari on jeep is the best recourse to move around the park since trekking is prohibited. The park is open in the mornings and evenings. The morning safari begins at predawn and ends before lunch time.

Early mornings are the best time to sight tigers and leopards though the latter is a rare sight. Herds of Gaur or Bison can also be seen in the grasslands.Other animals that can be seen around the grassy meadows and wetlands are deer, Nilgai, sloth bear and wild dog. Spotted deer, wild boar and Hanuman Langur are a common sight besides peacock and many other common birds.The Pench River is the lifeline of this ecosystem and bisects the park into two. It has been dammed for water storage and supply which is unfortunate.

For birding morning is the best time and this preserve is an excellent birding destination in MP. There are more than two hundred fifty avian species in the park during winters. The migratory birds come from far and wide. The Totlah Doh reservoir is a habitat for wetland birds while dense canopy is home to forest birds.

The best time for tiger safari at Pench is in winters but holiday season should be avoided. Summers are excellent for animal watching but it is very hot. This season is preferred by wildlife photographers who take benefit of good light conditions and proximity of animals. The stressful conditions forces wild mammals to congregate in and around water holes which increase sightings.

Only Jeep Safari is allowed in the park and trekking is not allowed. This is for the safety of the tourists and to avoid a direct confrontation with the animals of the park. The evening safari on every Wednesdays are not available at Pench.

Short ride on elephant back are available as tiger show. This is a good way of seeing the animal from close if you have not seen the tiger on the jungle road. Since the preserve gets crowded during the peak season it is better to book the park entry in advance. Most of the luxury hotels in Pench book the safari in the park. Else online booking facility at MP Online Portal is best for advance booking for jungle rides. There are many resorts in Pench ranging from 3 star hotel to luxury and budget accommodations.

Pench offers a good chance of sighting the rare Indian wolf. But they are seen more often outside the park. Hence keep a look out for the animal before you enter the dense canopy of the National Park. You can visit Kanha as well from this reserve since it is about five hours drive.

Pench is a birding heaven yet to be discovered. The preserve boasts of couple of hundred of bird species inhabiting it dense forests and the Totlah Doh Dam.

The major attractions are the raptors, Osprey, White Eyed Buzzard, Booted Eagle, White Backed Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Honey Buzzard, Changeable Eagle, Crested Hawk Eagle and the Red Kite. Other bird species are Red Jungle Fowl, Barhminy Duck, Nakta, Lesser Whistling Teal, Cotton Pigmy Goose, Great Egret, Median Egret, Cattle Egret and Litte Egret. Found near the water one can also come across Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Great Cormorant, Median Cormorant, Little Cormorant, Eurasian Thicknee and more shore birds.

In the dense canopy one can see Common Iora, Collared Scops Owl, Tawny Fish Owl, Brown Fish Owl, Indian Pitta, Peacock, Red Jungle Fowl, Painted Spurfowl, Golden Oriole, Black Hooded Oriole, Yellow Crowned Wood Pecker, White Backed Woodpecker, Black Rumped Flameback, Velvet Fronted Nuthatch, Chestnut Belied Nuthatch, Puff Throated Babbler, Greater Racket Tailed Drongo, Black Drongo, Ashy Drongo, White Bellied Drongo, White Rumped Shama, Tailor Bird, Ashy Prinia, Plain Prinia, Zitting Cisticola, Brown Rock Chat, Chestnut Shouldered Petronia, Common Woodshrike, Grey Francolin, Painted Francolin, Tickell's Flowerpecker, Plum Headed Parakeet, Greater Coucal, Common Stonechat, Pied Stone Chat, Hume's Warbler, Greenish Warbler, White Browed Bulbul, Red Vented Bulbul, Long Tailed Shrike, Bay Backed Shrike, Gray Shrike, Red Avadat, Indian Silver Bill, Crested Bunting, Rufous Treepie and many other species.

The park gets its name from this river. The river is the lifeline of Pench ecosystem. It plays a crucial supportive rile during the summers whence most of the water bodies in the park dry down. The river flows i north to south direction and intersects the park.

The flow of the river spirals down after the winter months but water remains in small pools all along. The river is dammed and the Dam is called Totlah Doh. Tiger frequent the sandy bed of the river and is a good place to look for them.