The Emerald - Panna National Park, Madhya Pradesh

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The Emerald

Gemstones are one of those things that have been fascinating human beings from ancient time. They are kind of extracted from earth through in mines and there are different types of gems exist. One of them is The Emerald. India has Panna (local name for Emerald) mines in Madhya Pradesh. The place is named after the same – Panna. Earlier, tourists were allowed to have a look at limited part of the mines but, later due to some reason it was banned for tourists. Still we visited Panna because our interest was in looking for real gemstones - the forest and its biodiversity is not less than any gemstone for us and Panna National Park has plenty of them to offer. Wildlife enthusiasts visit Madhya Pradesh (MP) for its natural wildlife and forest landscapes. The state of MP has some of world renowned National Parks – Kanha, Pench, Bandhavgarh. Luckily, as compared to these national parks Panna is not crowed with tourists – another reason why we chose it. We went there in the month of May. During summer the occurrence of ground vegetation is very less due to which the visibility increases and so does locating the animal becomes easy. Hence it’s preferred to go there in such months. However, the temperature is extremely hot and the air is very dry during this time of the year. If one has problem with the heat then it is advised to go there in winters that is from November to February.

We reached Satna railway station and from there proceeded to Panna in hired vehicle. We passed through nice agricultural fields, hillocks and some forest patches. Ultimately, we reached our hotel at night; had tasty dinner and went to sleep. Next day was the early morning safari inside the permitted area of forest (generally the buffer zone of any national park or sanctuary). As a government rule for protection of wildlife, nobody is allowed to stay overnight inside the National Parks boundary hence all hotels and lodges are outside the protected area but, nearby forest entry gates.

Finally, there were we out for a safari ride in Panna. As we entered we saw herds of spotted deer being shy and alert animals, they started running away. Another deer species we could see were Sambars; they don’t roam in larger groups. Sambar deer is listed in ‘Vulnerable’ category of IUCN red data list and is also a favorite food of Tiger – the top most predator of this forest. We clicked some pictures of Langurs while they were busy in daily routines such as cleaning each other’s fir, jumping here and there. Since it is a protected area, no one is allowed to get down of the vehicle. These vehicles are open safari jeeps. One has to arrange its own vehicle and it is compulsory to have a forest guide per jeep. They are well aware about the biodiversity of the area and are trained to explain it to the tourists.

We had five rides in the park and every time some or the other new species was added in our list of sightings. Some of the mammal sightings include Wild dogs (Dholes), Jackals, Indian Gaurs and Nilgai etc. Nilgai are largest antelopes of India and are easily differentiable from Sambar deer with the hair-like structures on the middle part of the throat. Nilgais being antelopes have permanent horns where as Sambar being deer has antlers and shade them almost every year.  We were told that out of these The Wild dogs are one of the rare sightings. We saw lot of forest birds too. It including Paradise fly catcher and Savanah nightjar. Observing them is a treat to the eyes. The adult male of paradise flycatcher has absolute white feathers except at the head region they are black. It is rightly called as Dudhraj in Hindi (Milk-king). It is also a State bird of Madhya Pradesh. Savanah nightjar being a nightjar is a master of

camouflage. It sits firm to the ground. One may feel as if it is part of stone it is sitting upon. A very good eyesight and observation is needed to spot it. We were lucky to have a forest guide who was able to do so. There is Vulture census that occurs every year in the National Park. It has about 2-3 species of vultures.

Rive Ken add up to the beauty of Panna National Park. Every time we stopped our jeep, I admired the landscape. Being situated in Vindhya mountain range it offers a spectacular view. There is a confluence of Teak forest (from Southern part of the Country) and Anoigessus spp forest (from western side of the country) and they blend perfectly here in Panna. I considered myself lucky to actually witness the beauty of Panna. There was another reason why we all were lucky. ‘Vatsala’ the oldest female elephant lives in Elephant camp of Panna National Park and we got to see her. We also saw her great grandson (yet to be named). Vatsala is about 96 years old and manages to roam around the forest with other trained elephants.

It was during the last safari that we saw a Leopard. First we saw the single leopard and after some time two cubs. I was amazed to see the size of first one – the adult male leopard. It was quite big as compared to regular leopards. The reason was cleared later. Panna had good numbers of tigers before. Later due to some un-natural reasons (hunting, poaching and habitat loss) there was not a single tiger left in the forest. So, ultimately the second top-most predator (leopard in this case) became the top one and it had good amount of food and ample of space to live. It proliferated and became really very healthy. In recent years (since 2009) there was big project carried out of re-introducing tigers to Panna. Now Panna National Park has good number of tigers. With the area of 1645.08 sq kms Panna provides ideal shelter to Tigers and ultimately the entire ecosystem. The adult male tiger requires area of appx 200 sq km as its territory. The Panna NP so far has 3 adult males. The total number of tigers reaches to 20-30 so far including adult males, females and cubs and they have fare size of area to live within. Since the area is vast they can roam around anywhere and the chance of sighting them becomes less. I was happy not to see the tiger as I knew somewhere they are leaving the way they want without any ‘Clicks-clicks’ of cameras and many jeeps running behind them to take a best picture shot. Perhaps this is the reason why people visit less here as compared to National Parks nearby. But, it will not be same scene after few years. As the number of tiger increases, the chance of sighting those increases and it increases the number of visitors. Too much of tourism in such area is harmful too. It puts pressure on nearby ecosystem. If every visitor follows the rule of forests safari and respects nature then the harm will be much less.

It was the time to leave Panna. We left it with happy minds, visited Khajuraho group of temples nearby and headed for railway station. I have been to Madhya Pradesh lot of time before and every time I have noticed the trains are always late! This time is was late by 10 entire hours!! It was only because we had spent last 4 days in Panna National Park with nice forested / natural surroundings; we managed to hold our patience and returned back to Mumbai.