Pench Tiger Reserve comprises the Indira Priyadarshani Pench National Park, the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary and a buffer. The Park nestles in the Southern slopes of the Satpura ranges of Central India. The river Pench, splits the National Park into two forms that makes it the lifeline of the Park.

The area of the present tiger reserve has a glorious history. A description of its natural wealth and richness occurs in Ain-i-Akbari. Several natural history books like R. A. Strendale's 'Seonee - Camp life in Satpura Hills,' Forsyth's 'Highlands of Central India' and Dunbar Brander's 'Wild Animals of Central India' explicitly present detailed panorama of nature's abundance in this tract. Strendale's semi-autobiographical 'Seonee' was the inspiration behind Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book'.

The Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighborhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling's most famous work, 'The Jungle Book'. Kipling borrowed heavily from Robert Armitage Strendale's books 'Seonee', 'Mammalians of India and Ceylon' and 'Denizens of the Jungle' for the topography, wildlife, and its ways. Mowgli was inspired by Sir William Henry Sleeman's pamphlet, 'An Account of Wolves Nurturing Children in their Dens' which describes a wolf-boy captured in Seoni district near the village of Sant Baori in 1831. Many of The Jungle Book's locations are actual locations in Seoni District, like the Waingunga River with its gorge where Sherkhan was killed, Kanhiwara village and the 'Seonee hills'.

Topography the terrain of the park is undulating with mainly gentle slopes criss-crossed by streams and nullahs. Most of these water courses are seasonal. Many of the hills are flat-topped and allow fine vistas of the forests around. The best known of these is 'Kalapahar' with an altitude of 650mts. The Pench River flowing through the centre of the Reserve is dry by April but a number of water pools locally known as 'dohs' are found, which serve as waterholes for wild animals. A few perennial springs also exists. Recently a number of earthen ponds and shallow wells have been developed leading to well distributed sources of water all around the reserve.

Conservation history in the year 1977 is an area of 449.39 sq kms and was declared Pench Sanctuary. Out of this, an area of 292.85 sq kms was declared the Pench National Park in the year 1983 and 118.31 sq kms remained as Pench Sanctuary. In 1992 Government of India declared 757.89 sq kms area including the National Park and the sanctuary as the 19th Tiger Reserve of the country. The name of the Pench National Park was changed to the "Indira Priyadarshani Pench National Park" in November 2002 similarly the name of the Pench Sanctuary had been changed to "Mowgli Pench Sanctuary".

The Pench hydroelectric dam straddles the Maharashtra - Madhya Pradesh boundary. The dam, constructed between 1973 and 1988 has resulted in the submergence of about 74 sq kms area out of which 54 kms is in the Park, the rest being in Maharashtra.

Forests and Wildlife the undulating topography supports a mosaic of vegetation ranging from moist, sheltered valleys to open, dry deciduous forest. Over 1200 species of plants have been recorded from the area including several rare and endangered plants as well as plants of ethno-botanical importance.

The area has always been rich in wildlife. It is dominated by fairly open canopy; mixed forests with considerable shrub cover and open grassy patches. The high habitat heterogeneity favors high population of Chital and Sambar. Pench tiger reserve has highest density of herbivores in India (90.3 animals per sq kms). The area is especially famous for large herds of Gaur (Indian Bison), Cheetah, Sambar, Nilgai, Wild Dog and Wild Pig. The key predator is the Tiger followed by Leopard, Wild Dog and Wolf. Other animals include Sloth Bear, Chousingha, Chinkara, Barking Deer, Jackal, Fox, Palm Civet, Small Indian Civet, Jungle Cat, Hyena, Porcupine etc.

There are over 285 species of resident and migratory birds including the Malabar Pied Hornbill, Indian Pitta, Osprey, Grey-headed Fishing Eagle, White-eyed Buzzard, etc. In winter thousands of migratory waterfowls including Brahmini Ducks, Pochards, Barheaded Geese, Coots, etc visit the tanks and the Pench reservoir within the park.

The Pench Tiger Reserve is also among the best areas for bird watching. Four species of the now endangered vulture’s white-rumped, longbilled, white scavenger and king vulture can be seen in good numbers in the reserve. The other fauna present includes 50 species of fishes, 10 amphibians, 30 reptiles, 45 butterflies, 54 moths and numerous other insects.

Pench in Madhya Pradesh is famous for its wildlife resources. Tourism in Madhya Pradesh receives a green dimension with the tour to Pench. This site comprised of Indira Priyadarshani Pench National Park, the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary and a buffer between these two regions, is perched on the southern slant of Satpura ranges. As Pench river meanders between the two wildlife reserves, richly diverse wildlife and flora sustains themselves on this waterway. You may notice that Rudyard Kipling had based his famous book, The Jungle Book on the topography of this place and its surroundings. The national park and the sanctuary spread across both the densely forested areas of Seoni and Chhindwara districts.

It is situated in the Seoni and Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, Pench is a well known tourist destination in India mostly for the Pench National Park. It has derived its name from the Pench River which flows through the national park. Pench has a breathtaking landscape with small hills, mixed forest and the imposing Satpura Ranges. The forest of Pench includes teak, lendi, haldu, salai and many other types of trees. The stunted plants and bushes are also a part of the vegetation of Pench. Pench is a tourist's paradise. There are a number of different tourist destinations in Pench which attract tourists from all across the world. Some of these tourist attractions in Pench are -

• You must watch the wildlife like Tiger, chital, Sambar, Nilgai, wild boar, and jackal.

• You will also find leopard, sloth bear, wild dog, porcupine, jungle cat, fox, striped hyena, gaur, Chousingha and barking deer.

• You will also spot birds like peafowl, junglefowl, crow pheasant, crimson-breasted barbet, red-vented bulbul, racket-tailed drongo and magpie robin.

Wildlife at Pench includes tigers, leopard, fox, gaur, jungle cat and many other types of animals. Different species of local as well as migratory birds visit Pench every year. Some of the birds found in this area are peafowl, crimson-breasted barbet, magpie robin, pintail, shoveler and many more.

You can fly down to Sonegaon Airport or Nagpur airport from Delhi or Mumbai.

You can also avail train services to Nagpur railway station from Delhi, Mumbai or Jabalpur.