Kanha National Park

Kanha covers around nine hundred and forty square kilometres of sal forest broken by maidans, open grassy meadows that are the remains of cleared villages, which makes for unusually good visibility. It holds a substantial tiger population, along with leopard, dhole, gaur and sloth bear. Its conservation achievement is the hard-ground barasingha, a swamp deer subspecies down to around sixty-six animals in the 1970s and now numbering in the hundreds, found nowhere else. The forest and its animals are commonly linked to Kipling's Jungle Book, which drew on this landscape, and the park uses that association heavily.

What you actually see

• The maidans - open meadows within sal forest giving long sightlines.
• The barasingha - hard-ground swamp deer found only here.
• The tigers - a strong population across four tourism zones.
• The sal forest - tall broadleaf woodland with bamboo understorey.

When to go

October to June; the park closes in the monsoon from July to mid-October. March to June gives the best sightings as water concentrates, though heat is severe.

Honest expectations

Permits must be booked online well in advance and popular zones sell out. Tiger sightings are never guaranteed. Vehicles are shared unless a full jeep is paid for, and routes are allotted, not chosen.

Nearby

Bandhavgarh lies north; Pench is southwest.