When the long winter nights come on and the wolves follow their meat into the lower valleys, he may be seen running at the head of the pack through the pale moonlight or glimmering borealis, leaping gigantic above his fellows, his great throat a-bellow as he sings a song of the younger world, which is the song of the pack.

An extract from THE CALL OF THE WILD

From the frosty Alaskan outback, where Jack London set his tale of Buck's adventures, to the tropical forests of India - the land of Mowgli the man-cub, the call of the wild has held an infinite charm for mankind. Carved out of the shikargahs (hunting reserves) of the erstwhile princely states of Panna, Chhatarpur and Bijawar, Panna National Park, India's 22nd Tiger Reserve, is one such awesome wilderness, which stimulates that primordial hunting instinct in man, be it with a gun or camera.

Located in the Vindhyan tracts of Madhya Pradesh this 540km2 National Park holds some of the most dramatic forest patches and ruggedly breathtaking scenery of peninsular India. The Ken river coursing through Panna National Park embellishes the countryside with its aquamarine waters and along with a few perennial springs is an important source of drinking water for the animals. Alternating valleys and plateaux, grassy maidans (fields), steep gorges and sheer escarpments down which sheets of sparkling curtains of aqua roll down present eye popping vistas all around. For a relative small park, Panna packs in quite a punch with an impressive array of representatives from the "critters club". More than 20 species of mammals are found in Panna. The list includes two species of antelope - the Nilgai and Chowsingha; the lone Indian antelope - Chinkara; two species of deer - Sambar, Chital; five species of cat, which include the tiger and leopard; and four species of canids (dog family) and several other large and small creatures including Obelix's favourite - the Wild Boar.

230 species of avifauna from different types of habitats - forest, grassland, and river -dwell in the wildernesses of Panna National Park. Vultures, eagles, kites, parakeets, pigeons, warblers, more than three scores of water birds, partridges and pheasants, sparrows and weavers, crows and cuckoos may be seen here. An added attraction for the visitor is the Ken Gharial Sanctuary on river Ken where the rare species of crocodile - the 6 metre long fish-eating Gharial - found only in the Indian subcontinent, may be seen.