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.
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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.
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