Panna Tiger Reserve – The Tiger Reserve

Panna Tiger Reserve – The Tiger Reserve

The tiger reserve covers an area of about 1645.08 sq. kms. The core area is about 542.66 sq. kms and the buffer area is about 1002.42 sq. kms. The Khen Gharial sanctuary is about 78.53 sq. kms and Gangau wildlife sanctuary is about 45.20 sq. kms. The reserve is located on either side of Ken river which flows from south to north through the Lower Vindhyan Formations within the park. The Ken river, which flows through the reserve from south to north, is home for Gharial and Mugger, and other aquatic fauna and is one of the least polluted rivers and a tributary of Yamuna.

It is one of the sixteen perennial rivers of Madhya Pradesh and is truly the life line of the Reserve. The terrain of the reserve is characterized by extensive plateaus and gorges. The reserve which has a bench topography, can broadly be divided into three distinct tablelands on Panna side namely the upper Talgaon Plateau, the middle Hinnauta plateau and the Ken valley. A series of undulating hills and plateaus rise on the other side of Ken river in Chhatarpur district.

The forests of the tiger reserve along with Ken Gharial Sanctuary and adjoining territorial divisions form a significant part of the catchment area of the river Ken with a total length of 406 km runs for about 72 kms through this catchment. The tiger reserve along with the surrounding territorial forest area of North and South Panna divisions is the only large chunk of wildlife habitat remaining in North Madhya Pradesh in otherwise fragmented forest landscape of the area. Panna National Park represents one of the important Tiger habitats of Central Indian Highlands along with its associated species.

Flora:

The tiger reserve is situated at a point where the continuity of the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests belt, which starts from Cape Comorin in South India, is broken and beyond this the Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests of the great Indo-Gangetic Plain begins. This area is the northernmost tip of the natural teak forests and the easternmost tip of the natural Kardhai (Anogeissus pendula) forests. The dry and hot climate, in union with shallow Vindhyan soils has given rise to dry teak and dry mixed forest. The dominating vegetation type is miscellaneous dry deciduous forest interspersed with grassland areas.

Other major forest types are riverines, open grasslands, open woodlands with tall grasses and thorny woodlands. The dominant trees found here are Tectona grandis, Diospyros melanoxylon, Madhuca indica, Buchnania latifolia, Anogeissus latifolia, Anogeissus pendula, Lannea coromandelica, Bosswelia serrata etc. The important shrub found here Lantana camera, Grewia sp., Nyctanthus arbortristis, Ixora sp., Zyziphus mauritiana, Zyziphus oenoplea, etc. The dominant grass species are Apluda mutica, Themeda quadrivalvis, Meteropogon contortus, Arishtida sp. etc.

Fauna:

The mammals found in the reserve are tiger, leopard, wild dog, wolf, hyaena, caracal, rusty-spotted cat, Asian palm civet, sloth bear, sambar, chital, chausingha, nilgai, and chinkara. The reserve is home to more than 200 species of birds. Some of the birds found in the reserve are white necked stork, bar headed goose, crested honey buzzard, Indian vulture, blossom headed parakeet, paradise flycatcher, Slaty headed Scimitar babbler, red-headed vulture, and changeable hawk-eagle. The reserve is also home to variety of reptiles including the python.