What must be
at all cost
Kanha National Park is within 6 hours by road of Bandhavgarh National Park, both in Madhya Pradesh,
India's "Tiger State". Unlike Bandhavgarh, Kanha has a
Core Area and a Buffer Zone. In the Buffer Zone,
which surrounds the Core Area, are 178 villages, about
20 of which being transplanted from the Core Area
when the park was first created. Both the human and
cattle populations in the Buffer zone are about 100,000.
Both the Core Area and the Buffer Zone of Kanha
National Park are about 1,000 sq. km. in size. By the
formula of about one tiger per 10 sq. km., the tiger
population estimate is about 100. Kanha has a rich
ecosystem. Kanha's vegetation is extra diverse
because of the various biomes related to Kanha's
altitude variations. No matter what part of the year one
visits the park, there are always some plants in bloom.
Other than thick vegetation in
certain Kanha biomes, there are
others with wide open meadows
and watering holes. The chital ,
the main prey species of tiger,
leopard and wild dog, has an
estimated population of 10,000.
Kanha is the physical
setting of Rudyard Kipling's
The Jungle Book. Kipling
lived here for years to
write it. At the Kisli
Gate of Kanha, there is
a tourist lodge called
Kipling Camp still.
The prominent British
Wright also live here to
make her documentary
Land of the Tiger and
research and expose
poaching at a time
when it was denied.
Termite mounds in ex-paddy-field turned meadow.
Victorian biologists called an insect society a "Super-Organism"
The fabulous Flame of the Forest tree
not only burns brightly in the park,
but lines highways for miles at a stretch.
The spectacular and critically endangered
Barasinga deer was the species that Kanha
was originally created to protect, when there
was one single population in the world with
only some 35 individuals. Today, that
population has increased to about 350. But
were the Kanha tigers wiped out, the park
would be gone, together with the Barasinga.
One of the 150 or so park guards each living in an
insolated mud hut inside the park. He is the tiger's front
line protector. But unlike his North American counterpart, he
has no 4WD, nor firearms for arresting poachers or even
self-defense, nor radio to ask for help if needed. All he has is
a pencil and a notebook, at best a rickety one-speed bicycle
or walkie-talkie. He can observe, record and report, but
cannot intervene. He needs our help to help him help the tiger.