Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park
	Axis deer in Kanha National Park
Location:	Madhya Pradesh , India
Next city:	Jabalpur
Surface:	940 km²
Founding:	1955
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The Kanha National Park is located in the southeastern foothills of the Satpura Mountains, almost 165 km (driving distance) southeast of Jabalpur in the state of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the most famous national parks in India . It was founded in 1955 and extends over an area of approx. 940 km² in the two districts of Mandla and Balaghat . Together with the buffer zone that surrounds it and encompasses approx. 1000 km² and the 110 km² Phen conservation area, it forms the "Kanha Tiger Reserve".

history

Kanha National Park is still home to quite a large tiger population today.

As early as 1865, some forest reserves existed in the area of today's Kanha National Park, in which the gathering of firewood and grazing by domestic cattle were allowed. Hunting the numerous wild animals in the area was also permitted with permits. In May 1933 an area of 252 km² in the Banjar Valley and in 1935 a further 500 km² area in the Halon Valley was established as a game reserve, in which the hunting of wild animals, with the exception of wild boar and birds, was prohibited. However, the protection status of the Halon area was revoked a little later due to severe forest and crop damage by wild animals.

On June 1, 1955, the 252 km² game reserve was declared a national park, the area of which was expanded to 318 km² in 1964. Until 1970 the national park was limited to the Mandla district, but in that year 127 km² of the adjacent Balaghat district were annexed, resulting in a total area of 446 km². With the start of Project Tiger in 1973, another 500 km² were added in the Halon Valley area, making the park its current size of 940 km². In addition, 1009 km² of the surrounding area was designated as a buffer zone and, together with the area of the national park, declared a tiger reserve. In 1983 the 110 km² Phen conservation area was established, although it is not directly adjacent to the park. The total protected area is 2059 km².

Landscape and vegetation

Kahna is part of the central Indian highlands. The landscape is characterized by chains of hills and some valleys, as well as by flat high plateaus. The two main rivers are the Banjar and the Halon. The three main forms of vegetation are sal forests , deciduous mixed forests and grass areas. Some of these grasslands have developed on areas that were once used for agriculture.

Wildlife

Kanha is best known for its large mammals. The park has a good tiger population and is one of the most likely places to see this cat in the wild. The population of striped hunters rose from 48 in 1976 to 127 in 2001. There are also other large predatory species in the park. The number of leopards for the year 2000 is given as 80, that of red dogs with 396 and that of sloth bears with 111.

Three male highland barasinghas in Kanha National Park

A special feature of the park is the last wild occurrence of the highland barasinga ( Cervus duvauceli branderi ), a subspecies of the barasingha deer that only occurs here. They multiplied from 66 animals in 1970 to 349 in 2000. In addition to the Barasingha, there are three other deer species in the area. The most common is the axis deer , whose population includes around 20,000 animals, with an upward trend. In 2000 there were also 3621 sambar deer and 1209 muntjaks . While the populations of the various deer are increasing overall, the numbers of the three antelope species declined. For the year 2000 only 73 Nilgau antelopes , 78 four-horned antelopes and 2 stag goat antelopes are given. The park has a good population of the mighty Gaure with 1197 specimens (in 2000) . Very often Hulman (6668 in 2000) and wild boar (8534 animals in 2000) to be found.

Other large mammals of the park are rhesus macaque , golden jackal , wolf (rare), Bengal Fox , smooth-coated otter , honey badger , small Indian civet , Indian gray mongoose , ruddy mongoose , striped hyena , jungle cat , Bengal , India Kantschil , Indian pangolin , Palm Squirrel , Indian porcupine and Black-necked hare .

Infrastructure

The two entrances are in the villages of Khatia and Mukki, which can be reached via paved roads. The park is open all year round.

literature

AP Dwivendi: Protected Areas of Madhya Pradesh , Government printing Press, Bhopal 2003
KK Gurung & Raj Singh: Field Guide to the Mammals of the Indian Subcontinent , Academic Press, San Diego, ISBN 0-12-309350-3

Web links

Commons : Kanha National Park - collection of pictures, videos and audio files