Kanha - In pursuit of the elusive big cat

Barasingha - The success story of Kanha

When we decided to visit Kanha in early may, we were a bit skeptical about the heat.
Poeple said Kanha could be really hot during this time. But at the same time more heat means more chance of animal sighting near the water holes. So we decided to go ahead with the plan.

We booked 3 safaris in Mukki zone, and started our journey via Bilaspur.  We reached Bilaspur from Kolkata via Mumbai mail. We had our travel arrangements done by 'MP Tourism'. The already arranged Innova was waiting for us in Bilaspur station, and we soon started our journey towards Kanha.

Kanha is more than 200 kilometers from Bilaspur, we passed through Bilaspur-Mungeli-Chilpi and reached Kanha after 5 and a half hours.

Kanha Safari Lodge run by MP Tourism

Kanha is situated in an elevated plateau, at 600 - 900 meters above sea level, so even though the plains of Chattisgarh & MP were scorching, the weather in Kanha was more pleasant, the dense forest cover around, also added some respite from the heat.

We checked into 'Kanha Safari Lodge' run by 'Mp Tourism'. It's aesthetically built along the banks of river Banjar with all modern amenities. From the private balcony of the rooms one can have a great view of the forest & river. The resort has 6 standalone units, with 3 units having 2 AC deluxe rooms on 1st floor and 2 AC rooms on ground floor.The other 3 units only have 2 AC rooms on ground floor.

Just beside the lodge, along the river, there has been a nature tail created, which runs through the thick woods along the river for almost 2 kilometers. We didn't have any safari booked for that day, so during the afternoon we walked on that trail, occasionally got down at the riverbed and had a splash at the river water. It was quite refreshing.


Banjar River View - From Watchtower

A watchtower has been built on that trail, which gives a good view of the river & the surrounding forest. We climbed to the top floor of the tower and had a nice view of the buffer zone.

At evening we visited the nature interpretation center and saw documentary on Kanha. It was really informative, and depicts how much effort everybody has to put in, to make the project Tiger a success.

Next morning we started our safari from Mukki gate. Saw a group of Barasinghas on the grassland. One of the success story for Kanha is the conservation of Barasinghas.It is the only place in India where Barasinghas can be found. Surviving near extinction, they are now quite a few on numbers in Kanha. Saw this flock on the early morning light.


Flock of Barasingha

The day was a bit cloudy. Probably that's the reason we saw a lot of peacocks dancing with their colorful plumage in display.

The Dancing Peacock

Next on the list was Gaur. As our gypsy got closer to it, it gave us a nonchalant look and then continued with munching on the leaves. It looked like these animals now have got pretty 'used to' with the prying eyes of the tourists.

The Gaur

Kanha meadows & the Barasinghas

The real beauty of Kanha lies in its sprawling meadows. These meadows were mostly created when the villages were relocated from inside the national park area. These meadows are basically grasslands spreading acres. A lot of herbivorous can be seen in those grasslands. Saw these one with a talab (small lake) in the middle. Its a popular place among the Barasinghas, who mainly feed themselves on the algae grown at the waterbody.

The other beauty of Kanha is its luxuriant Sal trees. During the early summer the trees were full of new leaves, giving the entire forest a greener look.

Gaur at Minkur

Over the last few years, Mukki zone has established itself among the top zone in terms of tiger spotting in Kanha. We asked guide about the recent spottings and he said Minkur Nullah is one such place where tigers are spotted recently. So in search of the tiger we did some rounds around Minkur Nullah. Minkur is a picturesque place with a stream of water flowing gently along the slopes. Saw a lot of animals like Gaur & Cheetals at Minkur. However the big cat remained elusive.

Kanha is also famous for its avifauna. We were not deprived from these either. Saw Indian Roller & Crested Serpent Eagle. The Red Jungle Fowl can also be seen quite regularly.

Cormorants are also quite frequent alongside the water bodies.

The morning safari was quite pleasant in terms of weather. The jungle remains cool for the most part of the safari, only during the last part of the safari, post 10 a.m. things starts to get a bit hot.

Indian Roller Bird @Kanha

We had two more safaris on next day morning & evening. While the morning safari was as usual, We had an eventful evening safari. Saw a group of Jackals & Wild Boars in the evening safari.

Jackal in the woods

Gaur was quite a common sight in the evening, specially on the open meadows. We even had our road blocked by this group of Gaur for sometimes :)

Gaurs - Controlling the traffic

In search of tiger we kept on vising the talaos, anticipating the big cat will come for a sip of water. But it continued to play hide and seek with us. Time was  running out , and as we were getting a bit anxious of not been able to track the tiger, we heard a calling sound which suggested the tiger is somewhere around. The calling sound was coming from the banjar river bed. We tracked the sound and went there and saw a group of Barasinhas really alert in their body language, which suggested the big cat is definitely near by. We waited for almost 15 minutes, but it remained elusive. We had to leave the place to make sure we exit the gate before 7 p.m. Saw this Sambhar dear en route leaving the park for the day.

Sambhar - Our last sighting of the evening

Kanha with its sylvan surrounding and its inhabitants mesmerized us. The thick forest of Kanha is definitely a respite from the urban concrete jungle. It should be visited not only for the tiger, but also for its beauty & to appreciate the role it plays in wildlife conservation.