Brief History of
Kanha National Park

The Park consists of core area of 940 sq. km. which is surrounded by a buffer zone of 1005 sq. km.

Little is known about Kanha before the middle of the 19th century. Presumably the slash-and-burn (or Bewar) cultivation methods of the Baiga and Gond indigenous peoples stretched back for centuries.

The first extensive natural history notes about the area come from Captain J. Forsyth. (The highlands of Central India) year 1860.
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The Tiger Reserve

The Kanha National Park in the Mandla District of Madhya Pradesh, spreads over 1,945 sq. km of dense sal forests, interspersed with extensive meadows and trees and clumps of wild bamboo.

This is where you can spot the tiger in all his magnificence or feast your eyes on the rare
Barasingha Deer amidst extensive grasslands. The park forms the core of the Kanha Tiger
Reserve created in 1974, under Project Tiger.

It is one of the most well-maintained National Parks in Asia, and a major attraction for avid
wildlife buffs all over the world. Two major rivers, Halon anfd Banjar, flow through the park.

Kanha Time Line

• James Forsyth in Central Indian Highlands 1860
• Kanha notified as reserve forest 1880
• Kiplings Jungle Book 1890
• Kanha made a sanctuary 1933
• Forest rest houses at Kanha & Supkhar 1910
• Kanha became a National Park 1955
• George Schaller in Kanha 1963-65
• Project Tiger begins 1973
• Land of the Tiger filmed in Kanha 1985

Facts

• Area : 1,945 sq. kms.
• Altitude : 450-872 metres.
• Temperature (deg C): Summer- Max 40.6, Min 23.9. Winter- Max 23.9, Min 1.1.
• Rainfall : 152 cms.
• Best Season : April to June and October to January.