Madhav National Park

Madhav National Park

Madhav National Park, also called Shivpuri National Park, natural area in northern Madhya Pradesh state, central India. It is located about 70 miles (110 km) south of Gwalior on the main road between Mumbai (Bombay) and Agra, just northeast of the city of Shivpuri. The park was established as Madhya Bharat National Park in 1955 and received its present name in 1959. Originally, the park had an area of 64 square miles (165 square km), but a later extension to the east increased the protected area to 137 square miles (355 square km).

The park’s environs, consisting of hills and valleys in the Vindhya Range, originally was the private game preserve of the Sindhia rulers of the former princely state of Gwalior. The park’s vegetation includes mixed forests of sal (Shorea robusta), teak, and khair (Acacia catechu), interspersed with grassland. Leopards, langurs, jackals, mouse deer, wild pigs, four-horned antelope, jungle fowl, quail, and bustards inhabit the park. Tigers once roamed there but were reportedly gone from the area by the early 1970s. However, efforts have been made to reintroduce them. Lake Sakhya, or Chandpatha, a man-made lake with a circumference of 7 miles (11 km), offers canoeing and picnic sites.