| Pench National Park | |
| Iucn Category: | II |
| Alt Name: | Indira Priyadarshni National Park |
| Location: | Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Nearest City: | Seoni |
| Map: | India Madhya Pradesh |
| Area: | 257.26km2[1] |
| Governing Body: | State Forest Department |
| Coordinates: | 21.6716°N 79.3033°W |
| Established: | 1975 |
Pench National Park is a national park in India's Madhya Pradesh state, established in 1975 with an area of 257.26km2.[1] It includes Pench Tiger Reserve and derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the park from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves, the well-forested areas of Seoni and Chhindwara districts respectively. It was declared a sanctuary in 1965, raised to the status of national park in 1975 and enlisted as a tiger reserve in 1992.In 1983 it was declared as National Park.[2]
The national park consists of dry deciduous forests and much fauna and flora including tigers, various types of deer and birds.[3]
Pench National Park comprises, of which form the park's core area and Mowgli Pench Sanctuary. The remaining form the buffer zone. Elevation ranges from . The protected area is covered with small hills and teak mixed forest in the southern reaches of the Satpura Range. The temperature varies from in December to in May. Average rainfall is .
The forest cover in the park area includes teak mixed with other species like saja, bijiayasal, lendia, haldu, dhaora, salai, amla, amaltas. The ground is covered with maze of grasses, plants, bushes and saplings. Bamboo is also found at places. Scattered white kulu trees, also referred to as 'ghost tree', stand out conspicuously among the various hues of green. Another important tree for both wildlife and tribal people of this region is mahua. The flowers of this tree are eaten by mammals and birds, and also harvested by the tribal people as food and to brew beer.
Pench National Park hosts Bengal tiger, chital, sambar, nilgai, wild boar golden jackal, Indian leopard, sloth bear, Indian wolf, dhole, porcupine, Semnopithecus entellus, Rhesus monkey, jungle cat, striped hyena, gaur, four-horned antelope and barking deer. It is also harbours more than 210 bird species including several migratory ones. Some of them are Indian peafowl, junglefowl, Indian vulture, crow pheasant, crimson-breasted barbet, red-vented bulbul, racket-tailed drongo, Crested serpent eagle, Nisaetus cirrhatus, Indian roller, magpie robin, lesser whistling teal, pintail, shoveller, egret and herons, minivet, oriole, wagtail, munia, myna, waterfowl and common kingfisher.
Pench National Park is one of many places that may have inspired Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.[4]
The forest reserve has also provided location for the BBC wildlife series , a three-part documentary narrated by David Attenborough, which used concealed cameras placed by elephants, in order to capture intimate tiger behavior, and also retrieved footage of various other native fauna. The programme was aired for the first time on March 2008 and ended a month later.