Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh
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Pench National Park is situated in Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh in India. It derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the National park from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves- the well forested areas of Chhindwara and Seoni districts respectively. It was declared a sanctuary in 1977 but raised to the status of National park in 1983. Later it was established as Tiger Reserve area in 1992.
The area of the National park is 293 km². It is located at 21°38' -21°50' North, 79°08'- 79°22' East. The terrain of Pench is covered with small hills and well-stocked teak mixed forest in the southern reaches of Satpura Ranges. Altitude varies from 425 to 620 metres above msl. The temperature varies from 4 °C in December to 42 °C in May. Average rainfall is 1300 mm.
The forest cover in the park area includes grand Teak (Tectona grandis) mixed with other magnificent species like saja (Terminalia tomentosa), bija (Pterocarpus marsupium), lendia (Lagerstroemia parviflora), haldu (Adina cardifolia), dhaora (Anogeissus latifolia), salai (Boswellia serrata), aonla (Emblica officinalis), amaltas (Cassia fistula), etc. The ground is covered with maze of grasses, plants, bushes and saplings. Bamboo is also found at places. Dazzling white kulu (Sterculia urens) trees scattered around stand out conspicuously among the various hues of green.
Tiger is the main cat species of the park present in good numbers but sighted infrequently. Commonly seen wildlife is chital, sambhar, nilgai, wild boar, and jackal. Other wild animals found are leopard, sloth bear, wild dog, porcupine, jungle cat, fox, striped hyena, gaur, chowsingha and barking deer. There are more than 170 species of birds including several migratory ones. Some of them are peafowl, junglefowl, crow pheasant, crimson-breasted barbet, red-vented bulbul, racket-tailed drongo, magpie robin, lesser whistling teal, pintail, shoveler, egret and herons.
