Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh
Encyclopedia
Pench National Park is situated in Seoni and Chhindwara
districts of Madhya Pradesh
in India
. It derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the National park
from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves- the well forested areas of Chhindwara and Seoni districts respectively. It was declared a sanctuary in 1977 but raised to the status of National park in 1983. Later it was established as Tiger Reserve area in 1992.
The area of the National park
is 293 km². It is located at 21°38' -21°50' North, 79°08'- 79°22' East. The terrain of Pench is covered with small hills and well-stocked teak
mixed forest
in the southern reaches of Satpura Range
s. Altitude varies from 425 to 620 metres above msl. The temperature varies from 4 °C in December to 42 °C in May. Average rainfall is 1300 mm.
The forest cover in the park area includes grand Teak
(Tectona grandis) mixed with other magnificent species like saja
(Terminalia tomentosa), bija
(Pterocarpus marsupium), lendia (Lagerstroemia parviflora), haldu (Adina cardifolia), dhaora (Anogeissus latifolia
), salai (Boswellia serrata
), aonla
(Emblica officinalis), amaltas (Cassia fistula), etc. The ground is covered with maze of grasses, plants, bushes and saplings. Bamboo
is also found at places. Dazzling white kulu (Sterculia urens) trees scattered around stand out conspicuously among the various hues of green.
Tiger
is the main cat species of the park present in good numbers but sighted infrequently. Commonly seen wildlife
is chital
, sambhar, nilgai
, wild boar, and jackal
. Other wild animals found are leopard
, sloth bear
, wild dog
, porcupine
, jungle cat
, fox
, striped hyena
, gaur
, chowsingha and barking deer.
There are more than 170 species of birds including several migratory
ones. Some of them are peafowl
, junglefowl
, crow pheasant, crimson-breasted barbet, red-vented bulbul
, racket-tailed drongo, magpie robin, lesser whistling teal, pintail
, shoveler
, egret
and heron
s.
Chhindwara
Chhindwara is a town and a municipality in Chhindwara district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Chhindwara District. Chhindwara is reachable by rail or road from adjacent cities Nagpur and Jabalpur...
districts of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the National park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves- the well forested areas of Chhindwara and Seoni districts respectively. It was declared a sanctuary in 1977 but raised to the status of National park in 1983. Later it was established as Tiger Reserve area in 1992.
The area of the National park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
is 293 km². It is located at 21°38' -21°50' North, 79°08'- 79°22' East. The terrain of Pench is covered with small hills and well-stocked teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
mixed forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
in the southern reaches of Satpura Range
Satpura Range
The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat state near the Arabian Sea coast, running east through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and these two east-west ranges divide the...
s. Altitude varies from 425 to 620 metres above msl. The temperature varies from 4 °C in December to 42 °C in May. Average rainfall is 1300 mm.
The forest cover in the park area includes grand Teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
(Tectona grandis) mixed with other magnificent species like saja
Saja
Saja may refer to:* Saja Records* South Asian Journalists Association* Saja - a river of Spain* Sebastian Saja - Argentine football goalkeeper...
(Terminalia tomentosa), bija
Bija
In Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term बीज bīja , literally seed, is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things and cognate with bindu....
(Pterocarpus marsupium), lendia (Lagerstroemia parviflora), haldu (Adina cardifolia), dhaora (Anogeissus latifolia
Anogeissus latifolia
Anogeissus latifolia is a species of small to medium-sized tree native to the India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Its common names are axlewood , bakli, dhau, dhawa, dhawra, or dhaora , takhian-nu , and raam .It is one of the most useful trees in India...
), salai (Boswellia serrata
Boswellia serrata
Boswellia serrata is Indian frankincense or Salai. It is found in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Andhara Pradesh in India.- Medical usage :...
), aonla
Aonla
Aonla may mean:*Indian gooseberry is a deciduous tree of the Phyllanthaceae family*Aonla, Uttar Pradesh - a place in Uttar Pradesh, India*Aonla Aonla was a capital of Rohilkand...
(Emblica officinalis), amaltas (Cassia fistula), etc. The ground is covered with maze of grasses, plants, bushes and saplings. Bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
is also found at places. Dazzling white kulu (Sterculia urens) trees scattered around stand out conspicuously among the various hues of green.
Tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
is the main cat species of the park present in good numbers but sighted infrequently. Commonly seen wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
is chital
Chital
The chital or cheetal , also known as chital deer, spotted deer or axis deer is a deer which commonly inhabits wooded regions of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and in small numbers in Pakistan...
, sambhar, nilgai
Nilgai
The nilgai , sometimes called nilgau, is an antelope, and is one of the most commonly seen wild animals of central and northern India and eastern Pakistan; it is also present in parts of southern Nepal. The mature males appear ox-like and are also known as blue bulls...
, wild boar, and jackal
Jackal
Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
. Other wild animals found are leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
, sloth bear
Sloth Bear
The sloth bear , also known as the labiated bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous species of bear found wild within the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral brown bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution...
, wild dog
Dhole
The dhole is a species of canid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the only extant member of the genus Cuon, which differs from Canis by the reduced number of molars and greater number of teats...
, porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
, jungle cat
Jungle Cat
The jungle cat is a medium-sized cat and considered the largest remaining species of the wild cat genus Felis. The species is also called the swamp lynx but is not closely related to the lynxes....
, fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
, striped hyena
Striped Hyena
The Striped Hyena is a species of true hyena native to North and East Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Middle and Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...
, gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
, chowsingha and barking deer.
There are more than 170 species of birds including several migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
ones. Some of them are peafowl
Peafowl
Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female...
, junglefowl
Junglefowl
Junglefowl are the four living species of bird from the genus Gallus in the Gallinaceous bird order, which occur in India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Indonesia....
, crow pheasant, crimson-breasted barbet, red-vented bulbul
Red-vented Bulbul
The Red-vented Bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Burma and southwestern China. It has been introduced and has established itself in the wild in many Pacific islands including Fiji, Samoa,...
, racket-tailed drongo, magpie robin, lesser whistling teal, pintail
Northern Pintail
The Pintail or Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator...
, shoveler
Shoveler
The shovelers, formerly known as shovellers, are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks:* Red Shoveler, Anas platalea* Cape Shoveler, Anas smithii* Australasian Shoveler, Anas rhynchotis...
, egret
Egret
An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...
and heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
s.
See also
- Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's The Jungle BookThe Jungle BookThe Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
is thought to have been set in Pench National Park. - BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's three part special Tiger: Spy in the Jungle was filmed in Pench National Park, and was based on the maturing of four Tigers in Pench.