Panna Tiger Reserve is a critical tiger habitat with a story to tell. In 2009, it was confirmed by the Forest Department that the reserve had lost all of its tigers to poaching. This has led to the Department taking immediate action in initiating a dialogue with the community members in reducing dependency on the forests via resettlement outside of the reserve, creation of alternative means of livelihood, and weaning the younger generation away from hunting. Apart from working tirelessly with the community members, the Forest Department, in order to repopulate the reserve once again, reintroduced tigers from reserves like Pench, Kanha and Bandhavgarh.

Today with the help of NGOs on the ground and efforts of the Forest Department, the reserve, after plummeting down to 0 tigers, has now 60+ tigers. Apart from tigers, the reserve is also home to, Gharials, almost 300 species of birds (the gorges of Panna often some fantastic view points to photograph vultures from) and a diverse range of mammals. Apart from wildlife, the landscape of Panna is absolutely breath-taking owing to the vast grasslands, plateaus and gorges that are a photographers’ delight post monsoon. In 2020, UNESCO declared Panna a biosphere reserve. Panna has two tourist gates. Namely Hinouta and Mandla, both of which offer fantastic wildlife sightings.