Pench Tiger Reserve
The area of the Pench Tiger Reserve and the surrounding area is the real story area of Rudyard Kipling's famous "The Jungle Book". The idea of Mongali is made from the pamphlet "An Account of Wolves's Nurturing Children in their Dens" by Sir William Henry Sliman. In 1831 there was a report of the arrest of a child who had grown up with wolves in village Satbavadi near Seoni. The place described in "The Jungle Book", the Vainganga River, its valley where Sher Khan was killed, the mountain ranges of village Kannivara and Sivani etc. are the actual places in the Seoni district. The forest areas of the Pench Tiger Reserve have a glorious history. Its natural beauty and richness is described in the Ain-i-Akbari and many other natural history books such as R.A. Strenthal's "Sivni, Camp life in the Satpura", James Forsyth "High Lands of Central India" and A. A Dunbar Brander "Wild Animals of Central India" etc. Pench Tiger Reserve was awarded to "Best Maintain Tourist Friendly National Park" Award under the National Tourism Prize 2006-07.
General information
- Core: 411.330 Sq Km
- Buffer 768.302 Sq Km
- Total: 1179.632 Sq Km
Photo Gallery
Flora & Fauna
The forests found in Pench Tiger Reserve are divided into three parts as follows: -
- Southern tropical wet deciduous forest.
- Southern tropical dry deciduous teak forest.
- Southern tropical dry deciduous mixed forest.
Dry mixed forest spreads in about one-third area of ?? protected area. Whose main species are salai, pickle, moyan, tendu etc. Kahua (Arjuna), Jamuna, Guular and Saja are found along the banks of river streams. Trees of Mahua, Palash, Plum etc. are found scattered around the open forests of displaced areas of old villages. Teak forests are found in about one quarter area. There are about 82 types of grass species and Bamboo found in this forest area.
The major Carnivores are Tiger, leopard, wild cat, wild dog, hyena, jackal, fox, wolf, weasel among the vegetarian species, Gaur, Nilgai, Sambar, Chital, Chasinga, Chinkara, Wild Pig etc. are prominent. In this Tiger Reserve, birds of about 325 species can also be seen in various seasons of the year. In the sunny areas of the Totladoh reservoir situated inside the park limits, there is a lot of migratory birds seen in the cold season. Among the migratory birds, Ruddy shelduck, Pintail, Whistling Teal and Vegtel etc are prominent.
Best Time to visit
The best time to visit the Reserve is 15 October to 30 June.
Tourism Zone & Carrying Capacity
Pench Tiger Reserve has three Tourist zone namely Turia, Karmajhiri and Jamtara.
Core Zone Vehicle Allowed and Entry gate Information.
| Zone | Carrying Capacity (per day) | Total | |
| Morning | Evening | ||
| Turia | 74 | 37 | 37 |
| Karmajhiri | 16 | 8 | 8 |
| Jamtara | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| Telia | 30 | 15 | 15 |
| Rukhad | 30 | 15 | 15 |
| Total | 159 | 80 | 79 |
Weather
Pench being situated in Central India is subjected to extreme and tropical weather. Month of January may also witness sub-zero temperatures and frost. Monsoon arrives in the second week of June. The average temperature over the months is as below:
| Months | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Min (°C) | 1 | 10 | 22 | 30 | 35 | 25 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 3 |
| Max (°C) | 15 | 25 | 35 | 40 | 42 | 41 | 34 | 30 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 25 |
Private Accomodation
Private Hotels are also present near Gates which can be booked by the Tourists by contacting the respective Hotel Management.
Connectivity & Distance
Nearest Airport : Jabalpur and Nagpur
Nearest Railway Station : Jabalpur, Chhindwara & Nagpur
Pench Tiger Reserve has three entry point (Gate) namely, Turia, Karmajhiri, Jamtara
- Jabalpur – Seoni – Khawasa – Turia : 215 km.
- Nagpur – Khawasa – Turia : 85 km.
- Balaghat – Seoni – Khawasa – Turia : 200 km.
- Seoni – Khawasa – Turia : 110 km.
Turia Gate
- Nagpur – Suktara – Karmajhiri : 135 km.
- Balaghat – Seoni – Suktara – Karmajhiri : 150 km.
- Jabalpur – Seoni – Suktara – Karmajhiri : 195 km
- Seoni – Suktara – Karmajhiri : 50 km.
Karmajhiri Gate
- Chhindwara – Bichhua – Pathri – Thotamal – Jamtara : 80 km.
- Chhindwara – Chand – Maghdoun – Thotamal – Jamtara : 59 km.