For anyone who wants to experience the thrill and privilege of seeing one of the world’s most majestic wild animals in its natural habitat, an organised Tiger Safari to the Indian subcontinent offers a wealth of opportunities to do just that. India is home to numerous protected nature reserves, which allow visitors to encounter the abundance of wildlife that make them their home, including the magnificent Panthera tigris tigris – the Tiger. Pench and Kanha National Parks are two of the best.
Kanha National Park
Situated in the central Indian highlands, Kanha’s diverse range of habitats encompasses a total of 1,945sqm – which now includes the “buffer zone†of the dedicated Tiger Reserve. The park is spread over the landscape of the Maikal range of hills and is the largest in the state of Madhya Pradesh. While it is renowned for its thriving and extensive population of wildlife, making it one of the country’s finest Tiger safari destinations, it is also famous for another reason – as the setting for Rudyard Kipling’s iconic novel, The Jungle Book.
The park is divided into four core zones – Sarhi, Kisli, Mukki and Kanha – as well as the buffer zones of Garhi, Khapa, Sijhora, Khatia, Motinala and Samnapur. The spectacular landscape comprises dense jungle, bamboo forests, open grasslands and meadows, networked by streams and lakes. This astounding diversity creates the ideal home for a vast range of wildlife, including everything from the smallest insects, reptiles and birds, to Wild Boar, Spotted and Swamp Deer, Sambar, Sloth Bear, Gaur and, of course, the star of the show, the big cats.
Pench National Park
Comprising a total of 758km2, Pench National Park is named after the river that traces its length from north to south and is one of the country’s more recently designated reserves. Located in the southern reaches of the Satpura Hills, on the boundary of Madhya Pradesh, the park is rich with flora and fauna, supported in its varied habitats of lush mixed forests, open grasslands and dense shrub cover. The region has the highest ratio of herbivores in the country, with the river providing an abundance of watering holes.
As well as also taking in the setting for Kipling’s The Jungle Book, the park has gained renown as the filming site of the ground breaking BBC documentary series “Spy in the Jungleâ€, raising its profile and making it a popular destination on Tiger safari itineraries. Along with the big cat, the humming wildlife population provides the opportunities to see Cheetal, Nilgai, Gaur, Sambar, Sloth Bear, Leopard, Barking Deer and myriad other species. It is also a superb bird-watching site, home to more than 285 avian species, including four species of endangered vultures.
Explore India’s Top Reserves on a Tiger Safari
These two reserves are among the most rewarding in the Indian subcontinent for nature lovers, along with Bandhavgarh and Panna National Parks. Accessible and incredibly rich in biodiversity, they are the ultimate destinations to experience a memorable encounter with the stars of India’s wildlife on a professionally organised Tiger safari.
Marissa Ellis-Snow is a freelance nature writer with a special interest in Tiger watching. As a passionate lover of wildlife, Marissa chooses the expert-led Tiger safari itineraries organised by Naturetrek, which have brought her unforgettable sightings of a wide range of species in some of the most spectacular regions on Earth.
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