Tiger Safari Part II - 2015

Central India

On first of October the park safari reopened after the monsoon period. This year the safari opened fifteen days earlier. The reschedule took place upon insistence of the hoteliers. Some changes in the entry permits were to be brought in but that has not happened so far. One of the proposal is for booking gate entry on three times the charge for those unable to secure it.   

The year 2015 has brought about a shift in the way we conduct the safaris. The buffer zone tourism has been a major addition allowing tourists some extra space. At Bandhavgarh off season safaris have brought in extra visitors for the benefit of the hoteliers as well as the jeep owners and the staff.   

Night safaris at Pench and Satpura have opened doors for the visitors to experience yet another aspect of the forests. The excursions in the night would offer sightings of lesser seen nocturnal animals like the pangolin, civets, porcupine, wolf, leopards etc. Kanha National Park does not offer the night safaris yet but plans are afoot.  

The government plans to create large enclosures to keep stray and offensive tigers and leopards within. Hence these enclosures would also act as safari and possibly offer easy sightings of the big cats. The tigers and leopards with propensity to attack humans will be caged in here.   

After the closure of tiger show this will be good for tourism as the possibility of sighting big cats would be facilitated easily. The enclosure would also assist in rehabilitating some of them after a period of watch. 

These changes suggest that the mindset has changed and controlled tourism is looked at favorable. As it should be!

 

Male Tiger: Photo Credits Anshuman Singh