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.
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 | Tadoba 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 Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra state. Coordinates: 20.2322 N, 79.4347 E |
| Where in Central India ? | It lies in southern part of Madhya Pradesh state. | North-east part of Maharashtra state. |
| Geographical Position | Pench forest is spread over Satpura range of Central India at south-west of Kanha tiger reserve. | It lies in Vidarbha region of Central India. |
| Declaration as Tiger reserve | In year 1998-99 | In year 1993-94, older than Pench tiger reserve. |
| Tiger reserve area | 411.33 sq.km. (Core area)+ 768.30 sq.km. (Buffer area) = 1179.63 sq.km. | 625.82 sq.km. (Core area)+ 1101.77 sq.km. (Buffer area) = 1727.59 sq.km. |
| Airport connectivity | Its nearby airport options are at Nagpur, Gondia and Jabalpur. | Its nearby airport options are Nagpur and Gondia. |
| 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. | Tadoba Andhari forest is mix of dry deciduous forest with undergrowths. |
| Topography | It is combination of hilly tracts with plain forests areas. Meadow areas are less. | Little bit hilly with more undulating topography. More of less it is a plain forest. |
| River system | Pench forest lies in between Pench river and Wainganga river. | Here Andhari river may be considered as main river else large collection of lakes fulfills the water requirement of this forest and wildlife. |
| High season | From Nov to mid of June. Here weekend crowd from Nagpur city keep it full in all seasons. | From Oct to June. It is known for over-crowding. |
| Low season | Mid of June to Oct. | July to Sept. |
| Tiger population | Tiger population is less than Tadoba national park. | Tiger population is more than Pench tiger reserve |
| Tiger density | Tiger density is less than Tadoba national park. | Tiger density is more than Pench tiger reserve |
| Big cats sighting probability | Pench tiger reserve is good for overall wildlife experience. For big cats like tiger and leopards it fell short of Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve. | Without any doubt, Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve is excellent destination for tiger sighting. Thus tiger safari experience is best in this forest. |
| Top 5 attractions | Tiger, leopard, sloth bear, Indian langurs, wild dogs | Tiger, sloth bear, Indian gaur, wild dogs, leopard |
| Core safari zones | Touria zone, Karmajhiri zone, Jhamtara zone, Khursapar zone, Sillari zone | Moharli zone, Kolara zone, Navegaon zone, Pangadi & Zari zone |
| Buffer safari zones | Rukhad zone, Masurnala zone, Teliya zone, Khawasa zone, Khumbhpani zone | Agarzari, Dewada, Adegaon, Juinona, Navegaon Ramdegi, Nimdhela, Kolara Chauradeo, Belara, Shirkheda, Madnapur, Alizanza, Palasgaon, Pangadi Aswal Chuha, Kesalghat, Zari Peth, Somnath, Mamla zone. |
| Safari duration | At Pench tiger reserve, if you are in Madhya Pradesh region, morning safari duration is longer than Tadoba morning safaris but evening safari duration is slightly shorter. | Here morning safari duration is comparatively short but afternoon safari duration is slightly long. |
| Camera fee | At Pench Madhya Pradesh, camera fee is included, not separately charged. At Pench Maharashtra, it is separately charged. | Here camera fee is separately charged as per number of cameras per vehicle. |
| Safari Closure | At Pench Madhya Pradesh, core zone safari remain closed for afternoon round on every Wednesday. Buffer zones remain open throughout the week. At Pench Maharashtra, core zones remain closed for full day on every Tuesday. Buffer zones remain closed on every Wednesday. | Here core zones remain closed for full-day on every Tuesday and buffer zones remain closed for full-day on every Wednesday. |
| Safari achievements | Here jeep safari experience is good for tigers, sloth bears, leopards and Malabar pied hornbills, green pigeon, flame-backed woodpecker | Easy tiger tracking and sighting. Sloth bear sighting is also frequent. |
| Safari challenges | Here getting safari permits of core zones are comparatively easy. Here doing safari is more convenient process thus goes easy for wildlife photographers to execute their plans. | Here safari booking is more difficult due to high demand, varying safari rates, high cancellation fee, quick sold out problems. During safari, park seems over crowded, sometimes not liked by photographers. |
| Safari guides | Here safari guides are locals but more professional and helpful during safaris. They share information on all animals and birds. Their basic knowledge of Hindi and English language is better than Tadoba guides. | Here safari guides are locals. Due to tiger oriented tourism in this park, local guides focus more on tigers and overlooks other species. Here Marathi is the local language thus their command over Hindi and English language is slightly poor than Pench guides. |
| 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 good in winters i.e. from Oct. to Feb. |
| Stay experience | Here we will find more scenic hotels due to more greenery, feel of being staying in nature, campus have tree clusters and rates are more competitive. Stay experience will be good. | Here hotel are comparatively less professional, gives impression of city hotels, hotel campus are not so green or forested, hotel surrounding are mostly agricultural fields. Stay experience will be average. |
| Climatic conditions | Pench forest lies in Satpura hills. Here climatic condition are more tourist friendly. Summers are comparatively less hot than Tadoba forest area. | Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve is known for its high temperature. Here summer come slightly early and temperature remain very high with heat waves. |
| 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 Jungle owlet, Indian roller, Asian openbill stork, Orange-headed thrush, Crested treeswift |
| Popular hotel cluster hotspots | Near Touria gate, Karmajhiri gate | Near Kolara gate, Moharli gate, Navegaon 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 average. Here rules are frequently changed and sometime very unfriendly to tourism. |
| 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. In history, this region was referred as Chanda fort forest. |
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