KANHA TIGER RESERVE

About: 

• Kanha National Park is a national park and a Tiger Reserve. 
  
  
• Location: It is located in the Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh. It is the largest national park in Madhya Pradesh with 940 sq. km under it. 
  
  
• Background: 
  • In the 1930s, Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries, Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 km². Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955. 
    
    
  • Together with a surrounding buffer zone of 1,067 km² and the neighbouring 110 km² Phen Sanctuary it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Fauna: 
  • The park has a significant population of Royal Bengal Tiger, leopards, the sloth bear, Barasingha and Indian wild dog. 
    
    
  • The Park is respected globally for saving the Barasingha from near extinction. It is also the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot, "Bhoorsingh the Barasingha". 
    
    
  
  
  
• Flora: 
  • The lowland forest is a mixture of sal (Shorea robusta) and other mixed forest trees, interspersed with meadows. 
    
    
  • The highland forests are tropical moist dry deciduous type and of a completely different nature with bamboo on slopes (Dendrocalamus strictus). 
    
    
  
  
  
• Tribes in the vicinity: The forest of the Kanha Tiger Reserve was originally inhibited by two indigenous tribes of Central India, the Gonds and the Baigas. The vicinity of the reserve is still occupied with the villagers of these tribes.