The Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park is named after the Pench River, which flows through the Reserve. Located in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh its terrain is undulating, with most of its 758 sq. km area covered by small hill ranges, steeply sloping on the sides. In 1992, Pench was included under the umbrella of "Project Tiger" as the 19th Project Tiger Reserve. The Pench National Park is very rich in fauna and a number of endangered species have made it their habitat. Listed are 25 tigers, 39 species of mammals, 13 species of reptiles, 3 species of amphibians and over 170 varieties of birds. The Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighborhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling's most famous work, The Jungle Book and to recognize this the name of the Pench Sanctuary has been changed to "Mowgli Pench Sanctuary".
