This is without a doubt one of India's most spectacular and exciting parks. The dense sal forests, bamboo thickets and Mekal River provided the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's 'Jungle Book'. The park is situated in the Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, its interesting mix of river valleys and steep rocky escarpments provide a diverse habitat for all manner of indigenous wildlife.

The park was created in 1955 and one of its first ambitious projects was to protect and preserve the local population of Barasingha (a unique type of swamp deer). This involved the relocation of several villages, a process that has been replicated in several parks with considerable success. The park came under the Project Tiger umbrella in 1974.

At nearly 2000 sq. km Kanha is one of India's largest parks, and after Sunderbans, home to the second largest population of tigers. The mixed forests of sal and bamboo provide good breeding grounds for approximately 200 different species of birds, as well as 22 mammal species. Herbivores include chitel, sambar, gaur and blue bull. Feeding on these prey species are jackal, leopard, hyena, dhole and of course the tiger.

Over the years Kanha has received a fair amount of international attention, having featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles. After Bandhavgarh and Ranthambhore it is one of the best locations to see Tigers and visitors appreciate the more relaxed approach to tracking and viewing wildlife. Jeep safaris enable you to view larger areas of this vast park, and offer the mobility to track tigers by following fresh pugmarks and alarm calls. As in Bandhavgarh elephants are also used to track wildlife, although not everyone is a fan of waiting in line for your chance to be shown the tiger.

Kanha lies in the heart of India and can claim to be one of its most prestigious National Parks, the land painted so vividly by Kipling does not disappoint. The park opens sometime between October 1st and November 1st depending on the amount of rainfall received and closes at the end of June.

A range of accommodation is available including the wonderful Kanha Jungle Lodge, set in 11 acres of mature sal forest near the Mukki entrance to the park. A proportion of the cost at the Jungle Lodges is given to the Tiger Trust, a non-governmental organisation started in 1989 which works closely with the neighbouring communities and park authorities to improve education and awareness.