Kanha has become the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot - Bhoorsingh the Barasingha - to present the hard ground swamp deer as the spirit of the reserve and spread awareness to save it from possible extinction.
Barasingha, or swamp deer, is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh.
The Kanha tiger reserve, spread over Mandla and Balaghat districts, is the only place in the world where the species exists.
The idea emerged from the work of Nagpur’s award-winning cartoonist Rohan Chakravarty, who makes cartoons and illustrations on wildlife.
The cartoonist choose the Barasingha, an endemic variety of deer, as the park’s mascot. ‘Bhoor’ means tawny/golden and ‘Singh’ means antlers.
Bhoorsingh will soon feature in more artwork, posters and merchandise for the park management at Kanha.
As per the forest department, the mascot will not only play an important role in attracting the younger generation towards conservation but will also be used to spread awareness in form of stories and comic strips.
The good conservation practises coupled with grassland management by the forest department saw the population, which was on the brink of extinction in the 70's, to increase to more than 800 now.
Kanha: Know More- State: Madhya Pradesh
- Area: 940 km²
- Established: 1955
