Photographs By Shivam Sharma
Nestled in the lower southern reaches of the Satpuda hills, and the setting for Rudyard Kipling's famous work - The Jungle Book - The Pench forest Reserve is named after Pench river, meandering through the park from north to south.
It is located about 70 km from the city of Nagpur. Spread over an area of 275 km, 90% of area is in the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh rest 10% in Maharashtra.
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 National Park is the 19th project tiger reserve in India and was declared so in 1992. It has tropical moist deciduous forest.
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. This national park is rich with chitals i.e. 'axis axis' or more commonly 'the spotted deer'.
As per the 2011 Tiger Census; There are 25 tigers under this umbrella of the Park with 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.
Catch a glimpse of Pench here :
Earlier this year, Pench National Forest staged 'Save our Tigers Telethon' - An initiative to voice concern over the degrading number of tigers in the country, with the likes of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio coming forward to promote the cause. Take a look here :
When To Visit?
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 in the morning and 3 PM to 6 PM in the evening. It remains closed during the months of July, August and September due to rainy season.
How to Reach?
Pench can be easily reached via 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.
MAP
Photographs By : Shivam Sharma
