Exploring the Abode of Real 'Sher Khans' - Pench National Park

Having a deep fondness towards the forest and exploring the woods has always been a very

enthusiastic experience for me. One of the most beautiful and exciting journeys of exploring

wildlife closely has been the Pench National Park.

Located in the heart of India, Madhya Pradesh, and in the districts of Seoni and Chhindwara,

has been named after the pristine river Pence. The reason for its renowned existence is due

to its mentioning in the ‘The Jungle Book’ (story of 1894).

Since then, oodles of wildlife come in bulks to witness the characters of the book Akela (The

Indian Wolf), Raksha (The female wolf), Baloo (sloth bear) and the majestic sher khan (the

Royal Bengal Tiger).

The national park is well facilitated with hotels and other basic requirements, which further

makes the stay comfortable. I had a three days safari booked to get the best out of the

National Park. Every day was filled with new stories of these majestic animals inhabiting the

Park.

The first day, I got to witness the wild dogs and their method of catching prey. It is one of the

most unique ways of catching prey, as they do it with all their skills. While one of them eats

the prey, the others are fortifying him and this cycle goes on for the entire pack, this indeed one of the rarest opportunities.

One of the most considerate things about this place was the fact that every animal or a

group of animals were named. It felt more like a family than a usual National Park with

wildlife flickering from one place to another. This made the experience a memorable one as I

started to feel myself connecting with this family.

The major animal on my checklist was to witness the ‘Collar wali sherni', (tigress, as named

by the authority). However, on the second day, I got to see the fresh paw marks of tigers and

their territory marking, which they usually did it by scratching against the tree barks. Along

with this, I also got to see the four-horn antelope, which usually are deemed to be harmless.

Finally came day three, perhaps the best day of my safari! I got to hear the loud calling of

tigers habituating the park. The calling was being made by the tigress to her cubs as

informed by the safari-guide. This was such an indulging experience and I was highly

overwhelmed. Just as we were proceeding into the forest, after a few miles, there stood the

massive collar wali sherni surrounded by her little cubs.

Moving authoritatively in the forest, as a queen, who owns and protects her territory, she

made it an eye feast for me. As informed by the guide, it was very rare to witness the tigress

with her cubs. Further got to witness a sweet friendship of a deer and a monkey, where the

monkey hung against a tree to shed down the leaves so that the deer could feed onto those

leaves.

These wildlife experiences have made me feel the best of the flourishing wilderness and

indeed teaches us an important lesson to conserve the jewels to our forest – wildlife.

Pench has been an impeccable place to walk down the memory lanes of your childhood

days of the famous story 'The Jungle Book'. This place is a must-visit for all the wildlife

enthusiasts out there!