KANHA - Call of the Wilds
Kanha's
sal and bamboo forests, rolling grasslands and meandering streams stretch
over 940 sq km in dramatic natural splendour. This is original Kipling
country, of which he wrote so vividly in his Jungle Book.
The same abundance of wildlife species exists today in
Kanha National Park, which forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve
created in 1974 under Project Tiger. The park is the only habitat of the
rare hardground barasingha (Cervus Duvaceli Branderi),
In the 1930s, the Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries: Hallon and Banjar, of 250 sq km and 300 sq km each. Though one of these was subsequently disbanded, the area remained a protected one until 1947. Depletion of the tiger population in the years that followed led to the area being made an absolute sanctuary in 1952.
By a special statute in 1955, Kanha National Park came into being. Since then, a series of stringent conservation programmes for the protection of the park's flora and fauna has given Kanha its deserved reputation for being one of the finest and best administered National Parks in Asia, an irresistible attraction for all wildlife lovers and a true haven for its animal and avian population.
Last modified: 26/02/2004