Kanha: You don’t just come here for the Tiger.
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Gaur-the largest cattle in the world and even the tiger gives it a wide berth.
If you want to hit the heart of Kipling’s India then you must work hard towards it. First you must make the eleven hour overnight train journey from New Delhi to Jabalpur. Then brace yourself for a 175 kilometer road trip that winds its way through broad leafed teak forests, dusty towns and multitude of tribal villages.
Kanha National Park forms the core of Madhya Pradesh’s tribal belt and attracts only serious wildlife aficionados. It is not a wildlife sampler for weekend tourists who skydive into forests and then leave in a hurry. The nearest airport and train station is 175 kilometers away in Jabalpur.
But you don’t come here only for the tiger. Though the elusive beast is the main attraction and unlike Bandhavgarh, where spotting the striped feline is easy, you may come away not getting a glimpse of him at all. However Kanha is archetypal Jungle Book territory and has a lot going on in its secret folds.
Two male spotted deer in Kanha Tiger reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
The jungle overrun with tall grass, taller legends, secret glades and dark thickets hides other exotic treasures most noticeably the Gaur or the Indian bison. This gentle giant has an awkward body design- smallish head topped over by a primordial hump, it remind you of the over-pumped up guys at the gym. The Gaur is the largest bovine in the world. Even the tiger gives the gaur a wide birth but the opportunist hunter that he is, he wont let slip a chance to steal their calf.
Besides thick bush, Kanha has large swathes of open grasslands. Once the habitat of local tribals, who were translocated to the park’s fringe, these grasslands now inhabit forest grazers most notably the swamp deer or barasingha. Kanha, infact boasts of an impressive breeding program for the barasingha reviving them from the verge of extinction. There are fenced in pockets within the park where their breeding program is in full swing.
Rarer still to view than even the elusive tigers and the leopards are the wild India dogs who hunt in formidable packs of two dozen and more.
Safari Jeeps wade past the Kanha jungle stream, Madhya Pradesh.
But besides the wealth of flora and fauna, Kanha offers a ringside view to tribal India. Tiger Biologist Latika Rana who has been involved in tiger conservation in Madhya Pradesh says Kanha offers a lot more than just the wildlife. ‘’ Usually tourists come. They stay in the Lodges. Go to the park and then go away. They don’t get to see the local people here at all. These are the people who are involved in guarding the jungles. We want to give the tourists a chance to see them too’’, she says.
Singinawa her tourist lodge she runs in Kanha with her husband Nanda, organizes cultural evenings where tribals showcase their traditional dances to the tourists in all their tribal finery.
The nomadic tribes like the banjaras, the gonds and and the baigas- many of whom were ousted from the jungles thus find newer ways of employment.
As in all national parts in India there is an urgent need to involve and not exclude the tribal communities in conservation and protection of forests.
A lot of tribals lived inside the forests leading a life of relative harmony. But ever since their ouster from the park many of them live in abject penury.
This leads to resentment and the poachers exploit this to their advantage. The tribals are excellent trackers and the poachers hire them to track the tiger. ‘’ If the tribal are involved in conservation we wont need armed guards to protect our forests. A poacher cannot enter any reserve if the tribals are on our side. Without their knowledge the poachers cannot do anything.’’, says Latika.
How to Get here:
From Delhi: You can either take an overnight train to Jabalpur or fly in.
From Jabalpur you have to make the 175km road journey to Kanha.
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