Safari in Pench National Park, Pench Tiger Reserve India, Madhya Pradesh

The area that is now Pench National Park was once the main region of jungle that inspired Kipling’s Jungle Book and it remains just as colourful, exciting and inspiring as it was in Kipling’s day. Although Pench is relatively small, it offers a sharply contrasting visual experience from the neighbouring Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Parks, with its lush teak forests and many areas of water. It also has the highest concentration of herbivores of any of the parks. There is a healthy tiger population here and the beautiful Indian wild dogs are often sighted, too, as well as elephants, leopards, sloth bear, hyenas, porcupine and much more.

We’d suggest early morning and evening drives offer contrasting animals and birds and a different visual perspective too. We tend to use the northern entrance to Pench where there are very few hotel options and therefore very few tourists. Coupled with the restriction on the number of jeeps in the park, this does mean that we need to get this booked as early as possible to avoid disappointment.