Panna National Park - Bundelkhand

Panna  Bundelkhand

Panna is located in the Vindhya range, this tiger reserve spreads into two income locale, Panna and Chhatarpur. Like Bandhavgarh, Panna was additionally the chasing store of its past leaders of Chhatarpur and Bijawar royal states. The Gangau Wildlife Sanctuary embodying woods of Panna Forest Divisions (north and south) was made in 1975. The range was developed and its legitimate status lifted to a national park amid 1981. The ensured region was accumulated under Project Tiger 1994. Panna is somewhat an open, dry landspace, with the geology and water conveyance representing the spatial vicinity of wild creatures. There is a huge drop in rises, generally known as seha. These spots give satisfactory spread to wild creatures. Vultures and different raptors perching on precipices along the waterway course are a typical sight in Panna. The fauna comprises of tiger, panther, Chowsingha, Sloth bear, Nilgai, Chinkara, hyena and little gatherings of Chital. More than 200 types of feathered creatures have been spotted. Both Gharial and Mugger are found in the Ken River. The spots of vacationer enthusiasm toward Panna are Pandava Fall, Kamasan Fall, Dhundhawa Fall, Bhauradeh Fall, Bhadar and Badgadi Fall, Raneh Fall and hollow artistic creations.

Wildlife Attractions in Panna National Park :-

Mammals

Tiger (Panthera Tigris tigris), the king of the jungle, roams freely in this secure, though a bit small habitat along with his fellow beings - leopard (Panthera pardus), wild dog (Cuon alpinus), wolf (Canis lupus), hyaena (Hyaena hyaena), caracal (Felus caracal) and other smaller cats. Sloth bear has his most favourite home in the rock escarpments and undisturbed vales. The wooded areas are dotted with sambar, the largest of Indian deers, chital and chowsingha. One can easily see nilgai and chinkara in most open areas in the grasslands, specially on the periphery.

                   

Avifauna

The avifauna comprises more than 200 species, including a host of migratory birds. One can see white necked stork, bareheaded goose, honey Buuzzard, King vulture, Blossom headed Parakeet, Paradise flycatcher, Slaty headed Scimitar babbler to name a few.

Dry and hot climate, in union with shallow Vindhyan soils has given rise to dry Teak and dry mixed forest. The dominating vegetation type is miscellaneous dry deciduous forest inter spread with grassland areas. Other major forest types are riverines, open grasslands, open woodlands with tall grasses and thorny woodlands. The characteristic floral species of this area include tree species such as Tectona grandis, Diospyros melanoxylon, Madhuca indica, Buchnania latifolia, Anogeissus latifolia, Anogeissus pendula, Lannea coromandelica, Bosswelia serrata etc.

Safaris

There are no jeeps provided by the authorities, so you will have to rent your own jeep for a safari into the park. An hour long boat ride offered by the park authorities is a good option to catch a glimpse of water predators and other animals around the lake. Elephant safari is one of your best bets to spot a striped beast up close. A major attraction is the night safari at Gangau offered by the Ken River Lodge. Safari Timings are 6:30 to 10:30 AM & 2:30 to 5:30 PM.

                                 

Tiger reserve

Panna National Park was declared as one of the Tiger reserves of India in 1994/95 and placed under the protection of Project Tiger. The decline of tiger population in Panna Bundelkhand has been reported several times.[dead link] Two female tigers were relocated there from Bandhavgarh National Park and Kanha National Park in March 2009. However, the last male tiger had already disappeared.] A committee to look into the disappearance of the tigers was formed.

In June 2009, it was officially announced that the Reserve, which had over 40 tigers six years ago, has no tiger left and only two tigresses, which were brought in a while agoIn February 2012, three years after the entire tiger population of the reserve was eliminated, the Madhya Pradesh government had not determined responsibility for the debacle, nor had it passed the inquiry to the Central Bureau of Investigation in spite of requests from the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Prime Minister's Office.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) approved a proposal to translocate two tigers and two tigresses to the reserve. One female each from Bandhavgarh National Park  and Kanha National Park  were translocated to Panna Tiger Reserve. A tiger male, coded , was brought from Pench Tiger Reserve but strayed out of the park shortly thereafter, in November 2009 The tiger started walking towards its home in Pench National Park, indicating homing instinct. It moved steadily through human dominated landscape without causing any conflict. Forest department staff tracked it continuously for over a month and finally brought it back to the Panna Tiger Reserve. It then settled well, established territory and started mating. The tigress, , translocated from Bandhavgarh National Park, gave birth to four cubs in April 2010 of which 2 survive till date. The second tigress, , translocated from Kanha National Park gave birth to four cubs several months later and all four survive till date.  A third tigress, coded , an orphaned cub was reintroduced to Panna in March 2011. She learnt hunting skills with the help of the male and mated with him. Her sister  was released in Panna in November 2011. Both have settled well.  Thus five tigers and around 10 cubs of up to 2 years are settled in Panna Tiger Reserve at present and their progress is being regularly monitored by the Forest Department.

How to get there:

By Air : The nearest airport is Khajuraho, well connected from Delhi,                                            varanasi, Mumbai etc 

By Rail : Satna, at a distance of around 90 km, is the nearest railway 

                station. It is a major railway hub and is connected to many

                places in centraland western India.

By Bus : The nearest bus stand is Panna connected to Khajuraho and many

                other places in Madhya Pradesh by a good road network. Madla, 

                at a distance of around 24 km  south west of Khajuraho, is a good

                transport centre. One can get buses and other road transport modes 

                from here to the Panna National Park. To reach by road from Delhi,

                take the NH2 to Agra, NH3 to Gwalior, NH75 to Panna via Jhansi,

                Bamitha and Madla.

Please our website for more information - www.makeinbundelkhand.org