This trip has been designed to have a life time experience to enjoy the two best National Parks of Central India & have a close encounter with Royal Bengal Tiger.
The Kanha National Park in the Mandla District of Madhya Pradesh, spreads over 1,945 sq. km of dense sal forests, interspersed with extensive meadows and trees and clumps of wild bamboo. This is where you can spot the tiger in all his magnificence or feast your eyes on the rare Barasingha Deer amidst extensive grasslands.
The park forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve created in 1974, under Project Tiger. It is one of the most well-maintained National Parks in Asia, and a major attraction for avid wildlife buffs all over the world. Two major rivers, Halon and Banjar, flow through the park.
Kanha National Park in the Mandla District spreads over 1,945 sq. km of dense sal forests, interspersed with extensive meadows and trees and clumps of wild bamboo. This area known as Kipling Country is where the jungle book of Rudyard Kipling was conceived.
Once part of the old Rewa state, Bandhavgarh National Park is set amidst the Vindhya ranges with a series of ridges running through it. Initially this park was the royal hunting ground for the rulers of Rewa. But in 1968 it was declared a park with an area of only 105.4 sq. km. At present, however, the Bandhavgarh Park covers 448 sq km.
The Bandhavgarh National Park is the place where the famous white tigers of Rewa were discovered. The last known capture of the white tiger was in1951. He is believed to have fathered many a cub in Indian zoos and outside. 'Mohan' is now stuffed and on display in the palace of of the Maharaja of Rewa.
Bandhavgarh is densely populated with other animal species too. The sambar, barking deer and nilgai are also common sights in the open areas of the park.
The vegetation of the park is dry deciduous. About half of the park is covered with sal trees. There are mixed forests in the higher reaches of the hills. Stretches of Bamboo and grasslands extend to the north of the park. Grassy meadow patches occur in the valley and along the nalas. The park sustains all those species which are typical to Central India.
There are 22 species of mammals which include langurs and rhesus macaque as the primary group. The jackal, fox, bears, ratel, mongoose, hyena, jungle cat, leopard and tiger form the core carnivore population. The animals frequently sighted are wild pig, spotted deer, sambar, dhole, the small Indian civet, palm squirrel and lesser bandicoot rat are seen occasionally.
The national park holds some 250 odd species of birds along the streams and marshes. Reptilian fauna include cobra, krait, viper, rat snake, python, turtle and a large number of lizard varieties, including monitor lizard.
