Kanha National Park is situated in the Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh. Established in June 1955, the park is currently the largest National Park in the whole of Central India.

About the park
The total area of the park is approximately 940 km². The park along the neighbouring Phen Sanctuary (110 km²) and the surrounding buffer zone (1,067 km²) forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve. The park together with its scenic beauty, waterfalls, flora and fauna had been the inspiration behind Rudyard Kipling’s popular novel "Jungle Book”.

Fauna
Kanha has a good tiger population. The fauna species that are found here are Swamp Deer, Indian Gaur, sloth bear, Hyena, spotted deer, four-horned deer, wild boars, Langoors, civets, hyena, honey badger, porcupine, etc. Cobras, pythons, rat snakes, krait, vipers, grass snakes and keelbacks are some prominent reptiles of the park.

Flora
The highland forest areas of Kanha National Park mostly comprise of tropical moist dry deciduous cover and bamboo plantations. The lowland areas are mostly meadows and sal forest.

General information
The park remains open for visitors only from mid-October to June. Proper lodging facilities are available in and around the Kisli entrance gate of the forest. Different safari services such as Winter Jeep Safari, Bandhavgarh Jungle Jeep Safari and Summer Jeep Safari are being conducted by the forest officials for the tourists.

Reaching there
The most convenient place to reach the reserve is from Jabalpur
via Mandla and Nainpur. The nearest railway station and airport is located in Jabalpur. From here one can avail the tourist taxi services to reach the park. Kanha National Park has three gates for entry- Kisli gate, Mukki gate and Serai gate. The first gate, the Kisli gate, can be conveniently accessed from Jabalpur.

Tourist information
Mangitola Mukki Gate, Mukki, Gunegaon, Madhya Pradesh
Timing: 6 am to 12 noon and 4 pm to 6 pm
Ideal time to visit: Mid-October to February
Major attraction: Tigers
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