The Kanha National Park may have become synonymous with the Royal Bengal Tiger; however, this park is also the only place on Earth where one can find the Hard Ground Barasingha, a sub species of swamp deer.
Mandla and Balaghat are the two districts, covering 940 sq km between them, which form the core of the Kanha National Park. Add to this a surrounding buffer zone of 1009 sq km and the 110 sq km of the Phen Sanctuary, and you have one of the biggest national parks in India.
Declared a Tiger Reserve in 1974, the Kanha National Park has been at the forefront of many conservation campaigns, none more prominent than Project Tiger. As a result of which, there has been a collateral surge in the conversation of other species, notably, the Hard Ground Barasingha.
So, while the tiger and swamp deer are the two common associations made with this park, it is home to over 200 species of flowering plants, a host of predators like the leopard, dhole, wild dog, civet, fox, jackals and the more common animals such as the sambar, barking deer, four horned antelope, spotted deer, gaur, wild pig and sloth bear.
Closed during the monsoons, from the 1st of July to the 15th of October, the best time to visit the park is between the months of February and June.
