Kanha

Location
Mandla is the district where a part of the famous Kanha National Park is situated. Here, Kanha has the largest number of tigers in India. The park is open year round except for July and August. The area is largely tribal and backward. The district consistently ranks among the 20 most backward districts in India. It is a tribal district and Gond tribe inhabits the interior of the district. Mandla also has railway line (narrow gauge). The river Narmada is worshipped here and many beautiful ghats have been constructed on the banks of the river.

By a special statute in 1955, Kanha National Park came into being. Since then, a series of stringent conservation programmes for the protection of the park's flora and fauna has given Kanha its deserved reputation for being one of the finest and best administered National Parks in Asia. It is considered as an irresistible attraction for all wildlife lovers and a true heaven for its animal and avian population. Forest Department guides accompany the visitors around the park on mapped-out circuits, which enable viewers to see a good cross-section of Kanha's wildlife.

Geographical Location
The Kanha National Park situated in the eastern sector of the central Indian Highlands, ranges over an area of 940 sq. km in the Mailkal chain of hills. In addition, numerous small tributaries break down through the hill and gorge into the valleys, to meander through the meadows. The meadows, dotted with clumps of the great Sal tree, lie distributed with the larger areas of Sal forest while at the higher altitudes the bamboo becomes predominant.

Kanha Tiger reserve consists of the National Park and the total area is extended up to 1945 sq. km.

History
In the 1930s, the Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries, the Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 sq. km each. Though one of these was subsequently separated, the area remained protected until 1947. Depletion of the tiger population in the years that followed led to the area being made an absolute sanctuary in 1952.

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