If you are keen to do wildlife tours, then you must keep your doors open for tiger trips. when you target tiger trips, you must count Kanha national park of India at the top of your travel wish list. No matter what type of traveler you are, but seeing a majestic animal like India’s national animal in his habitat is surely a great experience itself. Believe me, when I have seen them roaming around my gypsy in Kanha, I decided on the spot that I will never visit a zoo to see tigers. The zoo is good for children to learn about animals but a zoo can never give you that kind of awesome Feeling, which a forest can give.
Where is Kanha National Park?
Kanha Tiger Reserve, also known as Kanha–Kisli National Park, is one of the tiger reserves of India and the largest national park of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The state of Madhya Pradesh (MP) is large and is bigger than many of the countries in the world. This region has a tropical savanna climate with open grassy meadows. Kanha has two entrances, one is in Mandla district and the other is in Balaghat district. For detailed information about how to reach Kanha National Park, please check out the end of this article.
The park hosts Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, sloth bear, barasingha, and dhole. It is also the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot, Bhoorsingh the Barasingha. I got a beautiful bird brochure as a gift from the forest souvenir shop from my brother.
The ideal time to visit
February to May is good for a visit.
Some misconception
1) Oh this so costly! Why you did a costly trip? We too did a tiger trip, but it wasn’t so costly. The full cost depends upon the number of safaris and the days you spent in the resort. Quality of resort is also a factor.
2) You are so lucky that you got tigers on your first day! No, it was all about planning and taking guidance from good field guides.
3) How did you get so many birds? We visited there but didn’t find any. Spotting birds is all about practice. If you want to spot, you definitely can practice watching birds.
4) Tiger trips are dangerous. No, it is not. Sometimes I find tigers act helplessly in front of so many gypsies. It is safe to enter into the Madhyapradesh forests in an open gypsy. Tigers are careless about the tourists.
Kanha national park is an important name in the tourism map of India. If you are interested in wildlife tourism then you have already visited it, if not then you are planning to go. In this article, I will tell you what are the most important things that you must know if you want to visit Kanha national park and my personal experience visiting the park.
1) Safari gates and the choice of hotels in Kanha national park
Kanha has four zones Kanha, Kisli, Mukki, and Sarhi.
Kahna is the oldest zone, and it was the park’s premium zone until the concept was abolished in 2016. Mukki, at the opposite end of the park, was the second zone to be opened. Sarhi and Kisli zones were added later. In our tour, we have included Kanha twice, Mukki and Kisli once. One can enter into a zone through two gates khatia and Mukki. Staying in the hotels that are closer to Safari gates can increase the chance of a sighting. Let me explain to you how.
If visitors are staying somewhere else that is not so closer to the safari gates then they have to travel in the morning to safari gates. They may not get the chance to be the first gypsy of the morning safari, and it is a well-known fact that the first gypsy always has a high chance to get a good tiger sighting. Though it is also clear that no prediction can work with 100% surety in wildlife tourism.
We stayed in Motel Chandan which is situated in the neighborhood of Khatia gate. Even at night and early morning we sometimes could hear the roaring from the park inside. It was a thrilling experience to stay closer to the park.
2) Safari facts Kanha national park
In the morning and the evening, we could do safaris. You can book the safari through this Govt. website.
One can book a single seat or the full gypsy. All the information is there on the Government website. In wildlife tours, safaris are an inseparable part. When we are heading towards Kanha we must know what are the possibilities there.
3) Tales of tigers
Sprinkle some sugar cube in a vacant place and after some time you will find a little ant around it. It will go and inform other ants. After a couple of minutes, a long queue of ants will be present around it. One ant will inform every ant returning from the sugar center.
Ant 1: Kuch mila? (Get something?)
Ant 2: ha 8 number ke pass (Yes, near no 8)
Ant 1: kitne?(How many?)
Ant 2:Do the(They were two)
Believe me, I can’t give you any best example about the incident of tiger sighting of Kanha.
Tiger is the main objective animal which is supposed to be the most important for tiger trips. Well, that is the main reason for the name itself. All wildlife trips are different by it’s targeted species. When we are on a tiger trip, we may not be able to stop for the butterflies. So my first point is pretty clear. Keep calm and do sit in your gypsy. The rest will be done by the guides, gypsy driver, and your luck.
4) Kanha has some birds too
Birdwatching could be an important thing to do inside the park. Interested bird lovers can go through the birding trails with the forest guides and guards.
Crested Serpent Eagle 
Indian peafowl 
Red-naped ibis 
Paddyfield pipit 
Pied bush chat 
Siberian stonechat 
Black-rumped flameback 
Jungle owlet 
Changeable hawk-eagle 
Indian scops owl
Other than this, you can get birds like this while doing your safari. Make a checklist with the help of the guide and publish it in ebird.
5) Learning about nature in Kanha national park
Kanha national park has a nature interpretation camp. It has many different units. If anyone wants to know about the jungle in-depth then make some room for the nature interpretation camp from your busy safari schedule.
6) Alarm calls
An alarm call is something that is produced by barking deer or langurs, birds, etc. If they spot tigers around them. These animals are trying to warn others about the presence of a tiger.
7) Night safari
Only three gypsies are allowed for the night safari. The timing is 6.30 pm.- 9 pm. Night safaris can be done for getting a thrilling experience.
8) Baiga Tribes
The Baigas are semi-nomadic tribes that reside in the jungles and its fringes around the Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Chhattisgarh border in central India. Baigas were lived in some parts of Kanha national park. Now they were relocated.
If the visitors have time, they can learn more about the tribals by visiting their villages and collect jewelry or other things. It will show your support for sustainable tourism.
9) Dress code
In every wildlife trip, camouflage or earth-colored dress is necessary. Not only the dress code we must listen to the guides. We should not make unnecessary noise while we are doing a safari.
10) Tiger is not the only thing to enjoy
Kanha’s natural beauty was immense. The massive evergreen forest is so enchanting. When the first sunrise kisses the forest trails through the leaves, it catches all our attention and we can’t stop clicking the beauty.
Not only natural beauty we may learn about trees and tiger behavioral studies from the guides.
11) Binoculars are important if not a camera
Tigers are not something that you may get very easily just beside your gypsy. You may need to search and look through the bushes. A pair of binoculars may help you a lot to spot. On any wildlife trip binoculars are necessary. So consider carrying one for your convenience.
12) Planning a wildlife trip
If you want to spot lots of birds and other species including tigers, then plan your trip wisely. Most of the time, families want to see tigers outside of the zoo and plan their trips without proper calculation. They have a misconception in mind regarding the safaris. Wildlife safaris are unpredictable.
Knowledgeable guides only can predict something depending upon the recent sighting. Still, we can say if you spend a long time in the forest, then your chances may increase. Try to do at least 3/4 safaris and not just a single casual safari with a Jabbalpur marble rock trip along with. Respect forest as she deserves and forest will back you the love and respect.
Our experience in Kanha national park
I would like to tell you about our experience throughout our 3 days trip.
Day 1: We reached our resort the night before via Gondia station. Half of our trip team members reached through Jabalpur. Jabalpur is the nearest airport and Gondia is the nearest railway station. Our tour organizer was a wildlife trip expert who has experience in this field for the past 15 years.
Day 1 safari – Mukki zone – Morning
We spotted tiger Umarpani and tigress DJ4 together after a while. It was not easy. We followed the pug mark. A pug mark is a marking of tiger paws on the ground.
On an evening safari, we couldn’t spot the tiger but got a very strong alarm call by languors.
Day 2 Safari – Zilaline female with her two cubs were spotted.
Evening safari – We got Sangam tiger which was looking a bit hungry and agitated.
On the 2nd day evening, we went to enjoy the tribal dance in the nearest camp. Though unfortunately, we were late and we couldn’t have a glimpse.
Day 3 – The morning safari was good with a tiger sighting behind the bush.
We did 5 safaris and got 8 different tigers.
Recent Sighting of 2021 in Kanha national park
Tigress Naina and Dawajhandi are giving regular sighting. Though I am not predicting. 🙂
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Excellent trip report and guidance. It is really helpful to everyone who never went there before.
Thanks
Awesome write up
Thanks
I visited Kanha forest in March, 1985. I was so lucky that during my first safari itself upon arrival at the forest I could see the tiger. What a majestic sight it was. We started the safari in gypsy. But the tiger was spotted on a hill. So we were transferred to an elephant which took us to the tiger who had killed a deer and was enjoying his meal. We stayed inside the forest in MPTDC’s cottage. This is a memory which I will carry as long as I live.
And rightly said, Kanha forest is so beautiful that even without tiger siting, one can enjoy the beauty of the forest.
Hi Mr. Basu,
I feel so amazed to hear your story. You have visited Kanha much before I was even born. I am lucky that you shared your forest experience with us. Kanha is a beautiful forest to explore, truly said. Thank you very much for getting in touch.