At Central India region, Nagpur airport is one of the most important and popular point for launching any wildlife safari holiday trip. Due to its good flight connectivity, it is suitable for majority of wildlife lovers. It offers easy access to popular tiger reserves like Pench tiger reserve, Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve and Kanha tiger reserve. Thus if you are planning for a safari holiday trip then you may choose any of these 3 tiger reserves as your travel destination. If you are not frequent visitor then you might face question of which one to choose and why ? Thus here we have tried to help you by sharing the comparative analysis between Pench tiger reserve and Kanha tiger reserve. Both of these national parks lies in Madhya Pradesh. Here Pench tiger reserve have some forest area in Maharashtra state also thus here we will find two states forest departments, implementing their park management rules and conducting tourism activities.
Please study the below given comparative analysis exposing the difference of experience during visit to these 2 popular national park of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. Here we have tried to cover all the important features which could affect our decision like location, jungle safaris, animal sightings, topography, accessibility, stay experience, scenic beauty etc.
| Feature | Pench National Park | Kanha National Park |
| Forest location | It is spread over Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh state and Nagpur district of Maharashtra state. Coordinates: 21.7450 N, 79.3374 E |
It is spread over Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh state. Coordinates: 22.2995 N, 80.5864 E |
| Where in Madhya Pradesh ? | It lies in southern part of Madhya Pradesh state. | It lies in south-east part of Madhya Pradesh state. |
| Geographical Position | Pench forest is spread over Satpura range of Central India at south-west of Kanha tiger reserve. | Kanha forest is spread over Maikal-Satpura range of Central India at north-east of Pench tiger reserve. |
| Declaration as Tiger reserve | In year 1998-99 | In year 1973-74 with the launch of Project tiger. It is older than Bandhavgarh. |
| Tiger reserve area | 411.33 sq.km. (Core area)+ 768.30 sq.km. (Buffer area) = 1179.63 sq.km. | 917.43 sq.km. (Core area)+ 1134.36 sq.km. (Buffer area) = 2051.79 sq.km. |
| Airport connectivity | Its nearby airport options are at Nagpur, Gondia and Jabalpur. | Its nearby airport options are Raipur, Nagpur, Gondia, Jabalpur. |
| Forest type | Pench forest is classified into 3 types: South Indian Tropical Moist Deciduous, Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Teak forest and Southern Dry Mixed Deciduous forest. | Kanha forest is classified into 3 types: Moist Peninsular Sal forest, Southern Tropical Moist Mixed Deciduous forest, Southern Tropical Dry Mixed Deciduous forest. |
| Topography | It is combination of hilly tracts with plain forests areas. Meadow areas are less. | It is more hilly with undulating surface thus animals tracking & sighting is comparatively challenging. Still its meadows are better than Pench. |
| River system | Pench forest lies in between Pench river and Wainganga river. | Kanha tiger reserve forest is spread over Banjar and Hallon river valleys. |
| High season | From Nov to mid of June. Here weekend crowd from Nagpur city keep it full in all seasons. | From Dec to mid of June. |
| Low season | Mid of June to Oct. | July to Sept. |
| Tiger population | Tiger population is less than Kanha tiger reserve | Tiger population is more than Pench tiger reserve |
| Herbivores density | Its herbivores animals density is more than Kanha tiger reserve thus more opportunity for wildlife photography. | Its herbivores density is less than Pench tiger reserve |
| Big cats sighting probability | Higher than Kanha national park. In addition to tigers, here leopard sighting chances are far better than Kanha forest. | Among Big cats sighting, tiger sighting probability is higher than leopards. Here tiger only remains in focus. |
| Top 5 attractions | Tiger, leopard, sloth bear, Indian langurs, wild dogs | Hard-ground Barasingha, tiger, sloth bear, Indian gaur, wild dogs |
| Core safari zones | Touria zone, Karmajhiri zone, Jhamtara zone, Khursapar zone, Sillari zone | Kanha zone, Mukki zone, Kisli zone, Sarhi zone |
| Buffer safari zones | Rukhad zone, Masurnala zone, Teliya zone, Khawasa zone, Khumbhpani zone | Khatia zone, Khapa zone, Sijhora zone |
| Night safari experience | At Pench tiger reserve, good night safari experience can be obtained at Khawasa zone and Rukhad zone | Here only Khatia zone night safari is worth to undertake. |
| Safari achievements | Here jeep safari experience is good for tigers, sloth bears, leopards and Malabar pied hornbills, green pigeon, flame-backed woodpecker | Kanha safari is good for sighting of hard-ground barasingha, Indian gaur, tigers, sloth bear, vultures. |
| Scenic beauty | Its scenic beauty is at its best from Oct to March. Later due to summer season, forest looks dry and dull. | Its scenic beauty is best throughout the year due to dominance of Sal trees thus jungle looks green in all season. |
| Birdwatching experience | Here prominent birding attractions are Red junglefowl, Grey junglefowl, Malabar pied hornbill, Greater racket-tailed drongo, Yellow footed pigeon | Here prominent birding attractions are Black-winged kite, Racket-tailed drongo, Crested serpent eagle, White rumped Vulture, Grey francolin. |
| Popular hotel cluster hotspots | Near Touria gate, Karmajhiri gate | Near Khatia gate, Mukki gate, Sarhi gate |
| Park management & conservation history | Here park management effectiveness is average with no great conservation history but it is the tiger reserve which gave tigers to other reserve but didn't required any species re-introduction till now. | Its park management effectiveness is very good with great conservation history of hard-ground barasingha and practices. |
| Re-introduced species | Nil | Black buck |
| Historical background | Pench forest history is popularly associated wtih Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". It was controlled by Gond rulers of Deogarh. | It was under control of Gond dynasty. Later controlled by British India government. British officials did hunting in this forest. No such historical buildings visible during safaris. |
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