Pench was the place that inspired Rudyard Kipling to write "The Jungle Book" and, more recently, the BBC series "Tiger - Spy in the Jungle". One look at its mighty tangle of jungle, with huge, pale tree trunks and rich foliage rustling with animals and birds, explains why. It became a wildlife sanctuary in 1983, with a central area of 229 square kilometres, which is the national park, ringed by a buffer zone that brings the total up to 758 square kilometres. Tiger sightings have been steadily improving in the rolling terrain, forested with teak and sal trees, and the birding is wonderful.