Madhya Pradesh is a veritable haven for wildlife. In its lush forests, the tiger prowls and the spotted deer, the blue-bull and the gaur roam free. The barasingha has been saved from extinction and its numbers have multiplied in Kanha National Park.

The sal and bamboo forests of Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Pench, Satpura and many other National Parks and Sanctuaries are teeming with all kinds of wildlife and many hundred species of birds. In Madhya Pradesh, the old thrill of the jungle lives on!

One third of my land is forested, offering a unique and exciting panorama of wild life. Especially in the Vindhya-Kaimur and the Satpura and Maikala ranges and the Baghelkhand plateau.

The old princely families were enthusiastic "sportsmen". Rulers of states the size of English countries, and some appreciably larger, set aside vast stretches of wilderness as their own, private, haunting grounds. Since these royal hunts were fairly infrequent affairs and as the keepers of the hunting grounds were vigilant, the animals grew and prospered: in spite of the annual butchering.

The great hunting families have given the country its great wildlife parks When you visit wildlife sanctuaries and national parks over my land, you are the interloper: the animal is king. Your movements are controlled, the animal’s are not.

And thus the chances of seeing them in their natural avocations, is higher than anywhere else in the world.

The chances of seeing a big cat, a tiger or lion within naked lens’ reach, are extremely high. And the fact that they are not frightened of you lets you make observations and take pictures, which only dedicated naturalists could have hoped for just a decade ago.

Kanha and Bandhabgarh national parks have been very famous national parks around the world. The king of the forest may be easily sighted at Kanha and Bandhavgarh. Equally at home in the Jungles of Kanha and Bandhavgarh is the Gaur who does not fear the tiger. Another native is the Barasingha the only swamp deer who has adapted to hard ground. Chitals (spotted deer) can be sighted in hundreds. Sloth Bear, the leopard and the buffalo are much less common. At times one is surprised that wild life has survived so well despite the decades of senseless slaughter indulged in by the so-called big game hunters. Many of the princes marked out areas as their personal hunting reserves: Shivpuri near Gwalior for instance, which has served in recent years as the nucleus of the wild life park and where Madhav National park is particularly rich in many species of deer and famous for its white (albino tic) tigers. Pench National park is also an upcoming national park in Madhya Pradesh.