Kanha Tiger Reserve

Kanha Tiger Reserve encompasses an area of {{cvt|940|sqkm}} in the two districts Mandla and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh. It is divided into two protected areas, Hallon and Banjar, of {{cvt|250|and|300|km2}}, respectively. Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955 and was designated tiger reserve in 1973.

Together with a surrounding buffer zone of {{cvt|1,067|sqkm}} and the neighbouring {{cvt|110|sqkm|adj=on}} Phen Sanctuary, it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve, which is one of the biggest in the country. This makes it the largest national park in central India.{{cite web |url=http://210.212.144.202/kanha/ |title=Kanha Tiger Reserve |publisher=Madhya Pradesh Forest Department |access-date=14 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310220153/http://210.212.144.202/kanha/ |archive-date=10 March 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.kanhatigerreserve.com/ |title=Kahna Tiger Reserve: History and origin (3rd slide) |publisher=Kahna Tiger Reserve | access-date=21 March 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315092346/http://www.kanhatigerreserve.com/ | archive-date=15 March 2015 | url-status=dead}}

File:One afternoon at the Kanha National Park.jpg

The lowland forest in Kanha Tiger Reserve is a mixture of sal (Shorea robusta) and other mixed-forest trees, interspersed with meadows. The highland forests are tropical moist, dry deciduous with bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus) on slopes and Indian ghost tree (Sterculia urens).{{Cite web |title=Flora in Kanha National Park | Wild Flowers at Kanha |url=https://www.kanha-national-park.com/flora-in-kanha-national-park.html |access-date=21 February 2020 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809113626/https://www.kanha-national-park.com/flora-in-kanha-national-park.html |url-status=live}}

File:Majestic stag and harem (51079418982).jpg

File:Indian Gaur at Kanha.jpg

File:Tiger (India) 665.jpg

Kanha Tiger Reserve hosts populations of chital, sambar, barasingha, gaur, Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, dhole, sloth bear, Indian jackal and Bengal fox. The barasingha is adapted to swampy areas. The gaur inhabits meadows and waterholes in the park. Blackbuck has become very rare.Dwivendi, A. P. 2003. Protected Areas of Madhya Pradesh, Government printing Press, Bhopal

The reserve hosts around 300 species of birds and the most commonly seen birds are the black ibis, Asian green bee-eater, cattle egret, plum-headed parakeet, Indian pond heron, drongo, common teal, crested serpent eagle, Indian grey hornbill, Indian roller, lesser adjutant, little grebe, lesser whistling teal, minivet, Malabar pied hornbill, woodpeckers, pigeon, Indian paradise flycatcher, hill myna, Indian peafowl, red junglefowl, red-wattled lapwing, steppe eagle, Tickell's blue flycatcher, white-eyed buzzard, white-breasted kingfisher, white-browed fantail, wood shrikes, warblers, and vultures among many more.{{Cite news |title=Bird Watching at Kanha National Park with 300 Avifauna Species |url=https://www.kanha-national-park.com/birding-in-kanha.html |publisher=Kanha National Park |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728114059/https://www.kanha-national-park.com/birding-in-kanha.html |url-status=live}}

An exciting conservation effort in this national park is the reintroduction of barasingha. In 1938, there were more than 3000 Barasingha in the Kanha National Park, but their number declined to 66 in 1966-67 due to loss of ideal habitat. Due to conservation efforts and grassland management, the number of Barasingha rose to more than 2,000 in 2024. In 2015, 98 Barasingha were reintroduced to Satpura Tiger Reserve.{{Cite news|title=

Madhya Pradesh's barasingha and gaur populations soar thanks to conservation efforts|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/good-news/2024/Feb/25/madhya-pradeshs-barasingha-and-gaur-populations-soar-thanks-to-conservation-efforts|work=New Indian Express|date=25 February 2024|access-date=2 February 2025}}

Members of the Baiga tribe, a semi-nomadic tribe of central India that is reliant on the forest, lived in 28 villages that had been within Kanha National Park until 1968, when they were relocated. The relocation was part of an effort to maintain a critical tiger habitat.{{cite web |url=http://www.galli.in/2011/08/out-of-junglethe-baigas-sayantan-bera.html |title=Out of the Jungle: The Baigas - Sayantan Bera |work=Galli Magazine |date=2011 |access-date=21 March 2015 |archive-date=20 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320024503/http://www.galli.in/2011/08/out-of-junglethe-baigas-sayantan-bera.html |url-status=live}} The land to which they were relocated is barren and they now suffer from malnourishment. The last of the villages to be relocated for the tiger habitat is in the core zone of the Kanha Tiger Reserve.

In January 2010, Baiga tribe were illegally evicted from the park without proper compensation by the government.{{cite web |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/10631 |title=Tribespeople illegally evicted from 'Jungle Book' tiger reserve |author= |work=Survival International |access-date=21 March 2015 |archive-date=16 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316172049/http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/10631 |url-status=live}}

In its efforts to maintain and restore tiger habitats, WWF-India has worked to create corridors that support the tigers and their prey, thereby stabilizing the tiger population. This includes efforts to prevent loss of life or property of humans, reduce human dependency on the forest, and reduce retaliatory killings of tigers when people have experienced losses.{{cite web |url=http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/bengal_tiger/work_for_tiger/ |title=WWF-India's work for tiger |work=WWF India |access-date=21 March 2015 |archive-date=28 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328232610/http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/bengal_tiger/work_for_tiger/ |url-status=live}}

• Arid Forest Research Institute

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{{commons category|Kanha National Park}}

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{{National Parks of India}}

{{Tiger Reserves of India}}

{{Narmada basin}}

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Category:Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests

Category:National parks in Madhya Pradesh

Category:Tiger reserves of India

Category:Balaghat

Category:Mandla

Category:Protected areas established in 1955

Category:Wildlife conservation in India

Category:1955 establishments in India