In 1947, when the State of Rewa was merged with Madhya Pradesh; Bandhavgarh came under the regulations of Madhya Pradesh. The Maharaja of Rewa still retained the hunting rights. No special conservation measures were taken until 1968, when the areas were constituted as a national park. Since then, numerous steps have been taken to retain Bandhavgarh National Park as an unspoiled natural habitat.

Project Tiger was constituted in 1972 and then the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 came into force. It was realized that protection of just the 105 sq.km. of prime Bandhavgarh habitat was not enough, so in 1982, three more ranges, namely Khitauli, Magdhi and Kallawah were added to Tala range (the original Bandhavgarh National Park) to extend the area of Bandhavgarh to 448  sq.km. As Project tiger extended its activities and area of influence, Bandhavgarh was taken into its folds in 1993.