White Tiger of Rewa and Vindhya Wildlife Heritage

Rewa holds a unique place in wildlife history as the birthplace of Mohan, the first white tiger ever documented, captured by Maharaja Martand Singh in 1951 from Govindgarh forests. White colouration in tigers results from a recessive gene producing pale cream fur with brown stripes. The Rewa forests — part of the Vindhya plateau — shelter tigers, leopards, sloth bears, and hyenas in dry deciduous woodland. The Mukundpur White Tiger Safari established by Madhya Pradesh government displays white tigers bred from the original Rewa lineage. Vindhya forests provide important corridor connectivity between Bandhavgarh to the east and Kanha to the west. Forest communities have traditional protocols for coexistence: certain groves are considered tiger territory where humans do not enter after dark, enforced through village custom rather than law.