PENCH NATIONAL PARK

An impeccable place to walk down the memory lanes of your childhood days of the famous story ‘The Jungle Book’ and the character "Wolf Child - Mowgli" - penned by Sir Rudyard Kipling. This book was inspired by the true incident of a human child, raised by wolves in the nineteenth century, in the Seonee (now Seoni) district, located in Pench.

In the heart of India, state of Madhya Pradesh, Pench National Park is located in the districts of Seoni and Chhindwara. Named after the pristine River "Pence" which flows through the park, Pench National Park is one of the most popular wildlife reserves in India. Spread over an area of 1200 sq.km and divided in two states - Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Pench Tiger Reserve has a protected area in the southern extensions to the hills of Satpura, Central India, and was established in 1975, later declared a tiger reserve under Project tiger in 1992.

The Park has mainly southern tropical dry deciduous and dry mixed deciduous forest dominated by teak trees. During the dry season, when the river discontinues to flow it forms small pools that provide the primary watering holes for Tigers and other wildlife present in the area. Indian Marsh crocodile and Turtles can also be seen in these small waterbodies.

Mammals: Tigers, Leopards, Jungle Cat, Indian Wild Dog, Sloth Bear, Barasinga, Four Horned Antelope (Chausingha) Barking Deer (Muntjac), Jackal, Wild boar, Rhesus Macaque, Sambar Deer, Striped Hyena, Civets, Nilgai, Indian Fox.

Birds: Asian Paradise Flycatcher, White Bellied Drongo, Spangled Drongo, Racket Tailed Drongo, Grey & Painted Francolin, Golden Oriole, Black Hooded Oriole, Common Grey Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Twany Fish Owl, Barred Jungle Owlet, Spotted Owlet, Brown Fish Owl, Indian Scops Owl, Mottled Wood Owl, Crested Serpent Eagle, Shikra, Common Kestrel, Changeable Hawk Eagle, White Eyed Buzzard, Oriental Honey Buzzard and Indian Pitta.

Forest Type

Dry Deciduous Forest (Teak vegetation)

Yearly and weekly off

Holi, Diwali and Every Wednesday afternoon Safari

Area

758 square kilometer

This gate lies almost on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. This zone of the forest consists of mixed vegetation, scrublands, abundance of small streams and a very famous Baginnalla waterhole. Witness the flamboyant views of rocks, surrounded by the gigantic tree, which makes a perfect location for a leopard sighting. The picturesque Junewani waterhole which has a reflection of dead trees in his calmness also can be viewed with a backdrop of the pench highest point "KalaPalad - Black Mountain"

This part of the forest region is majorly covered with Teak Trees. The area has two main locations - first you will come across the "Bodhanala" which is covered with the Bamboo plantation known for the sightings of Gaurs and Deers (Mainly Cheetal and Sambar, if you are lucky, you will come across the Barking Deer as well). Second region you will come across is the" Sita Ghat" which goes parallel to Pench river, healthy number of bird species can be seen in this region, in summers when the river discontinue to flow it forms small pools, you might witness a Tiger resting in the pool, this area is also good for watching the activities of Wild Dogs.

This forest region offers a limited area to explore, full with Banyan and Shindoor trees the area is known for Sloth Bear sightings.

This zone can be accessed from the Maharashtra side of the Pench Tiger reserve which is approx. 12 kms from the Turia Gate where most of the tourist’s accommodation are present. Besides the good sightings of Chowsingha, Chinkara and Gaurs, recently it has developed an amazingly good Tiger sightings. It has few natural bodies and one of them is Bakhari lake which is well known.

Sillari has a beautiful forest with dense Bamboo and Teak vegetation, with a lot of water bodies and waterfalls. Besides known for the good sightings of Wild Dogs and Sloth Bear, you can witness the Hydyelectric Dam namely "Totlah Doh" build on Pench river from this region. Though it is located far approx. 40kms from the Turia gate (Madhya Pradesh Side), it is recommended to must visit this zone of the Pench Tiger Reserve.