Page 71 - World of Animals - Issue #29

Exotic India

Step into the pages of

the real-life Jungle Book

The teak woodlands and sweltering jungle streams of Madhya Pradesh are
famous for being the setting of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Sure
enough, the region’s national parks teem with the descendants of the villainous
Shere Khan. The reserves in Kanha and Bandhavgarh have some of the highest

densities of Bengal tiger you’ll find anywhere in the world.
Sloth bears resembling Baloo also live out reclusive lives in the Indian forest.
The scruffy animals are more dynamic than their name suggests – they are willing
to pierce rock-hard termite mounds with their claws or scale trees to knock down
bee nests in their search for food. Sadly, the black panther, characterised by the
cunning Bagheera, can no longer be found in the region. Actually a colour variant of
the leopard, panthers are now largely restricted to southern and northeast India.
If you fancy soaking up the sights and sounds of Kipling’s stories at a leisurely pace,
head northwest to Satpura, the only national park in the region to offer a walking safari.

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