Pench Tiger Reserve comprises the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary and a buffer. The Park nestles in the Southern slopes of the Satpura ranges of Central India. The river Pench, which splits the National Park into two, forms the lifeline of the Park.
The area of the present tiger reserve has a glorious history. A description of its natural wealth and richness occurs in Ain-i-Akbari. Several natural history books like R. A. Strendale's 'Seoni - Camp life in Satpura Hills,' Forsyth's 'Highlands of Central India' and Dunbar Brander's 'Wild Animals of Central India' explicitly present the detailed panorama of nature's abundance in this tract. Strendale's semiautobiographical 'Seoni' was the inspiration behind Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
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| Pench Tiger Reserve Area MAP (Click image to enlarge) |
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| Pench Tiger Reserve Area MAP (Click image to enlarge) |
The Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighbourhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling's most famous work,The Jungle Book. Kipling borrowed heavily from Robert Armitage Strendale's books 'Seoni', 'Mammalia of India and Ceylon' and 'Denizens of the Jungle' for the topography, wildlife, and its ways. Mowgli was inspired by Sir William Henry Sleeman's pamphlet, 'An Account of Wolves Nurturing Children in Their Dens' which describes a wolf-boy captured in Seoni district near the village of Sant Baori in 1831. Many of The Jungle Book's locations are actual locations in Seoni District, like the Wainganga river with its gorge where Sherkhan was killed, Kanhiwara village and the 'Seoni hills'.
The terrain of the park is undulating with mainly gentle slopes crisis-crossed by streams and nullahs. Most of these water courses are seasonal. Many of the hills are flat-topped and allow fine vistas of the forests around.The best known of these is 'Kalapahar' with an altitude of 650 metres.The Pench river flowing through the centre of the Reserve is dry by April but a number of water pools locally known as 'dohs' are found, which serve as waterholes for wild animals. A few perennial springs also exist. Recently a number of earthen ponds and shallow wells have been developed leading to well distributed sources of water all around the reserve.
In the year 1977 an area of 449.39 square kilometre was declared Pench Sanctuary. Out of this, an area of 292.85 square kilometre was declared Pench National Park in the year 1983 and 118.31 square kilometre remained as Pench Sanctuary.
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| Pench Tiger Reserve Madhya Pradesh Park Rules (Click image to enlarge) |
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| Pench Tiger Reserve Madhya Pradesh Park Entry Fee (Click image to enlarge) |
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| Pench Tiger Reserve Madhya Pradesh Activities Outside Park (Click image to enlarge) |
In 1992 Government of India declared 757.89 square kilometre area including the National Park and the sanctuary as the 19th Tiger Reserve of the country. The name of Pench National Park was changed to "Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park" in November 2002 Similarly the name of Pench Sanctuary has been changed to "Mowgli Pench Sanctuary". The Pench hydroelectric dam straddles the Maharashtra - Madhya Pradesh boundary.
The dam, constructed between 1973 and 1988 has resulted in the submergence of about 74 square kilometre area out of which 54 kilometre is in the Park, the rest being in Maharashtra.
ANIMAL INSTINCT
It is the comforting lap of Mother Nature, when you leave the city behind. There is no rush hour here, only the scurrying deer. No honking horns, only the music of the waterfall. No concrete, only jungle. This is where the chirping of birds replaces the drone of traffic and the serene waters mock at deadlines. The crowd here is only of the butterflies, and even the spider seems enchanting. The greenery is soothing, the whole atmosphere, magical. As the wildlife week concluded on Sunday, TOI marvelled at some enchanting glimpses of Pench National Park.
