Wildlife
Parks & Sanctuary In India
Panna National Park Fact
File
General
Information |
Area
Core
Buffer
LongitudeLatitudeAltitudeRainfallTemperatureSeasons
Summer
Rainy
Season
Winter
|
542.67
sq. km. 542.67 sq. km. Nil 79º45' E to 80º09' E 24º27'
N to 22º46' N 330 m to 540 m above M.S.L. 1100 mm average.
Min - 5ºC - Max 45ºC
March - mid - June mid
- June - mid - September Mid - November - February
|
Census |
Species |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
Tiger Leopard Nilgai Chinkara Chausinga Chital Sambar Rhesus
macaque Langur Wild Boar |
23 13 985 650 106 467 544 ---- ---- ---- |
22-27 25-27 1314 400 101 410 892 ---- ---- ---- |
23-28 28-30 1507 661 139 522 962 ---- ---- ---- |
22-24 31 1925 831 144 842 892 ---- ---- ---- |
21 32 1961 751 147 669 1084 418 3408 70 |
Tourism Tourists visiting Panna can be
classified in two groups : one, who visit the Reserve for wildlife watching
as in most of the other protected area. For these visitors, the Reserve is
open for eight monts of the year from November to June. Such visitors enter
the Reserve either from Madla or from Hinouta entrance. The second category
consists of those who visit exclusively the famous Pandav Fall, situated
close to the Panna-Chhatarpur main road, at a distance of 20 km. form the
town of Panna. As this spot is accessible even during the rains and is
connected by a 600 m long black top road, there are many tourists even
during monsoons.
The Reserve is situated very close (25 km.) from
the famous temple town, Khajuraho (a World Heritage Site), which is half an
hour drive from Madla entry point. Hinouta, the second gate of the Reserve
is 20 km. from Panna town.
Number of Visitors
Year |
Panna Tiger Reserve |
Pandav Fall only |
Indian |
Foreign |
Total |
Indian |
Foreign |
Total |
1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 |
942 897 1237 1108 |
329
637 545 558 |
1271 1534 1782 1666 |
30188 31398 23898 21074 |
1215 1442 974 618 |
31403 32840 24872 21692 |
Infrastructure and Facilities»There
is a ban on diesel vehicles for tourists.
»The park does
not have any transport facility for the visitors.
»Accommodation
can be made available to them in the Reserve. The Inspection huts at Madla
and Hinouta (two suites each) are allotted on first-come-first-serve basis
and on the condition of availability.
»There are guides
available at the entry points.
Highways The
Jhansi-Chhatarpur-Panna-Rewa State Highway No. 6 has reportedly been
upgraded as a National Highway. About 10 km. long stretch of this road
passes through the Reserve of makes the Reserve boundary (Madla Range). This
entire 10 km. stretch is dense teak and bamboo forest and is hilly. There is
a threat of forest degradation and increased chances of accidents involving
wild animals, if works like widening of road, diversions etc. are taken up
in the future. About a thousand vehicles ply on this road everyday. Wild
animals like Hyena, Wild boar, Nilgai, Sambar etc. sometimes do get killed
in roar accidents here.
Kishangarh-Palkoha-Bhusor-Bamitha road passes
through Chandranagar range. A few buses and other vechicles ply between
Bamitha and Palkoha every day.
Diseases Common
diseases of domestic animals in the area are Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD),
Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS), Black Quarter (BQ), Anthrax, Rabies or
Hydrophobia which are communicable to wild animals.
OtherMiningMining
for diamonds is done in Kimberlite pipe at Majhagawan by the National
Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) just outside the boundary of the
Reserve, off Hinouta range. It was started before the formation of the
Reserve in late 1960s. Diamond mining activity creates the following
problems:
(a) release of industrial waste in streams which drain in the
Ken river;
(b) Dumping of unusable debris in the form of huge mounds
just in front of the Hinouta gate of the Reserve;
(c) Noise due to
blasts and heavy machinery; and,
(d) Regular biotic pressure on
Reserve for fire wood and fodder from about 1,000 workers of NMDC.
Mining
for both diamond and sandstone is rampant in the areas around the Reserve.
Repeated efforts by the management to curb mining activities, especially in
regular forest area, by approaching licensing authorities have been
unsuccessful.
Buffer The Reserve does not have a
buffer. It touches three territorial forest divisions. Commercial forestry
activities are on in these divisions right up to the Reserve boundaries.
Land use in the peripheral areas is not consistent with the conservation
objectives of the Reserve.
The small size of the Reserve, lack of
corridors linking it with other Protected Areas, discontinuity from large
and extended forested patches beyond the Vindhyan ranges and a small
population of tigers are some of the serious limitations to the long term
viability of the tiger population here.
CultivationThe
Gangau dam constructed in 1911-1915 falls inside the Reserve. Every year,
pattas are given out by revenue authorities to the local villagers for
cultivation of the fertile land below FTL once the water recedes. This
disturbs the wildlife in the area for nine months every year.
Natural
Limiting FactorThe overall development of the Reserve suffers as
ecological considerations were not taken into account while deciding the
boundary ot the Reserve. The Reserve is open from all sides and villages
with high human and cattle populations are situated right on its periphery.
Poor
soil conditions, shallow soil depth, low water holding capacity of the soil
due to highly layered and fractured sub-strata of the Vindhayan formations,
very little or no winter rains and short monsoon period are some of the
other limiting factors.