DESTINATION

Kuno National Park

Sheopur & Morena, Madhya Pradesh

India's newest wildlife headline — Kuno is the site of Project Cheetah, the country's reintroduction of the Asiatic cheetah after a 70-year local extinction. Open grassland and dry deciduous forest make it a different kind of safari from our tiger reserves: lower density, but a genuinely rare chance to see a species found nowhere else in India's wild.

FLORA & FAUNA

What grows and roams here

Flora

  • Dry deciduous forest
  • Grassland savanna
  • Kardhai and Salai trees

Fauna

  • Asiatic cheetah
  • Leopard
  • Indian wolf
  • Chinkara (Indian gazelle)
  • Sloth bear

SAFARI ZONES

Zones & gates

Safari zoneGate code
Ahera GateAHE-01
PeepalbawadiPEE-02

SEASON

Best time to visit

Open October through June. As a newer safari destination, zone access and timings are still being refined by the forest department — we confirm current rules before every booking.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
  • Peak sightings
  • Core zone closed
  • Open, moderate

GETTING HERE

How to reach

Nagpur

620 km · approx. 11 hrs by road, or fly to Gwalior (1.5 hrs) + 2.5 hrs road

Delhi

430 km · approx. 7 hrs by road, or fly to Gwalior (1 hr) + 2.5 hrs road

Mumbai

1,150 km · fly to Gwalior (2 hrs) + 2.5 hrs road

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Before you ask.

Still have questions?

Can't find the answer you're looking for? Reach out and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Plan a safari here
Am I likely to actually see a cheetah?

We're upfront that odds are lower than a tiger sighting at our established reserves — the cheetah population is still small and settling into the landscape. It's a genuinely rare-species opportunity, not a guaranteed-sighting safari.

Is safari tourism here properly set up yet?

Yes — gate infrastructure, permits and gypsy access are operational, though newer and less polished than our long-established parks. We manage expectations accordingly when we route a guest here.

Why doesn't Kuno feature tigers?

It's not part of the historic tiger landscape the way Kanha or Bandhavgarh are — Kuno's grassland-and-scrub habitat was chosen specifically for cheetah and, earlier, as a proposed second home for Gir's Asiatic lions.

Can this be combined with other Madhya Pradesh parks?

Yes, though the distances are longer than our other multi-park routes — Kuno sits further north and west, closer to Gwalior and Delhi than to our Nagpur-anchored circuit.

Is this suitable for a first-time safari-goer?

We'd usually recommend Pench or Kanha first — Kuno suits guests who've already done a strong tiger safari and want to add a genuinely different, conservation-story destination.