Kanha National Park languorously spread across a wide spread area of 1,949 sq. km, with 940 sq. km of core area and 1,009 sq. km of buffer zone; is one of the best habitats for tigers in India. The oldest known tiger in the wild, Munna, who was a legend in his own right, romped these jungles and was recognised by a symbol on his forehead that reads – “CAT”. After his demise, Munna passed his legacy to his royal son, ChotaMunna who was a dominant male in these forests until last year.

Kanha National Park is located in the Central Indian Highlands, which are part of the extensive tableland that forms India’s main peninsula. These were once an unending stretch of forests that formed a significant part of the country’s wilderness and wildlife habitats. These forests are now fragmented into parks such as Panna, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench and Sanjay.

Kanha’s undulating landscape is dotted with dense groves of vegetation, hillocks and meadows. Of all these habitats, it is Kanha’s meadows that are its lifeline, as they sustain large numbers of Chital, Sambar, Barasingha and Gaur, which in turn support populations of predators and co-predators like Tigers, Leopards, Wild Dogs, Jungle Cats and Foxes.

The park is primarily a moist Sal and moist mixed deciduous forest where Bamboo, Tendu, Sal, Jamun, Arjun and Lendia flourish. It is home to over 1,000 species of flowering plants and about 300 species of birds and one of the best park for tiger safari in India.

Kanha’s lush Sal and Bamboo forests provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous narrative, “The Jungle Books”. Yet, Kanha’s greatest achievement, has been the preservation of Hard Ground Swamp Deer or Barasingha from near extinction. They numbered just sixty-six in 1970 and today there are more than four-hundred.

ZONES & GATES IN KANHA NATIONAL PARK

In Kanha National Park the four major safari zones are declared as the core zones. Core zone is the central part of the tiger reserve and it shares its boundary with the buffer zone.Buffer Zone is the area that surrounds or adjoins the core areas where nature is conserved alongside compatible human uses of the land or water.

The Core Zones of Kanha National Park are: Kanha, Sarahi, Mukki and Kisli.

• Kanha National Park zone has open meadows with grasslands and bamboo vegetation that offer some unique sightings. The most frequently sighted tiger of this zone is Junior Bajrang.
• Sarahi Zone has dry deciduous forests and with larger meadows. One of them is the Saunf meadow where the Barasingha was first spotted in 1966. The tiger known to be owning this territory is Yuvraj.
• Mukki Zone reports good sightings. The landscape includes saal, bamboo and grasslands. This zone is primarily inhabited by male tigers namely Umar Pani, NeelaNala&Balaghat.
• Kisli zone also has the elegant saal forests and scenic grasslands with bamboo vegetation. M1 is the most popular tiger of this zone.

The four core zones which are accessible from different entry gates. All these core zones are very popular among tourists.