Conservation and Best Places for Spotting Tigers in India

India's Recent Conservation History 

Central India retains its status as a tiger state with more big cats in its reserves than any other. This is a matter of pride and a sign of huge success in the conservation of the beleaguered cat. The problems faced by the endangered animal are literary insurmountable, but yet their populations grow in our country. Whereas we retain fifty percent of the population in India, it is losing ground elsewhere on Earth. 

Once we had contiguous tracts of forests and grasslands which formed fragile yet tenable ecosystems that supported myriads of life forms to conserve sustainable biodiversity in a robust environment. The lifelines of these precious natural places were the major rivers and their tributaries. This is not the case anymore as they have been either dammed or altered by engineering and this continues. This has prevented or altered the movement of keystone species and has resulted in subsequent damage to their environment and the ecosystems as a whole.  

Nature is a highly sensitive element of Earth and even slight alteration may threaten the survival of species, and the environmental equilibrium that is crucial for the sustenance of life on Earth including that of humans. There are in fact no pliable solutions to engineer earthly elements for infrastructure developments some strategies may only mitigate but not prevent a hole in the protective shield. Even the current methods of agriculture and livestock rearing are damaging the globe the former in an irreversible manner. Wood extraction, mining for minerals, and fossil fuels need an immediate reversal by developing renewable alternate energy sources which are merciful on carbon emissions.    

The perfect state did not last long after the arrival of invaders with ideologies that were not nature-centric, unlike the Vedic ethos. The growth of the human population though in a nascent stage at that time was slowly burgeoning. The advent of firearms, the use of wood for economic urgencies, the widespread prevalence of hunting among the privileged, and the later clearing of large tracts of forests to settle humans and support agriculture to make the rapidly rising population sustainable spelled disaster for our ecosystems. Today good crown cover survives in isolation and that too is under constant threat. The protected areas or PAs are in disconnect and a large number of them exist in complete isolation surrounded by a sea of humans all over.  

Conservation & Tourism 

The efforts to save the big cats continue, and in conservation, leitmotif tourism plays a major role. To be specific it is tiger tourism that is at the front of saving the species from extinction. This is done by according equity to the majestic animal and by providing crucial revenue for conservation activity. Another balance that tourism augurs are awareness of the complex web of life and its importance.    

The survival of tigers does not depend only on numbers; it is dependent upon a number of factors including political resolve, reduction in man-animal conflict, and unchecked linear infrastructure developments that go through the heart of our reserves. Saddled between popular expectations and the need to leave our ecosystems untouched the dispensation is in a quandary badly trying to find a middle ground that practically does not exists anymore after severe depredation. 

The crucial role played by the protected areas cannot be denied. It is this creation that has accorded space to the predator and protected its home from destruction by humans in the surroundings and those at the helm of economic game plays that the country has experienced right from the day of independence.     

The successful tiger reserves act as a breather for the species to overcome the challenges it faces in an effort to secure its existence on Earth. Unfortunately, the existential threats accrue from various quarters thanks to callous human nature and greed which tramples over all that the Earth stands for.  

Though there are fifty reserves in India not all are bustling with the endangered animal. Some exhibit a pathetic record of conservation due to negligence and prevailing conditions in the surroundings which are not conducive to the survival of the cat in the confines. 

But there are many reserves that are doing well and the species is regaining ground. The present beleaguered status of the tiger in India is due to the wanton destruction of its habitats, hunting, poaching, and man-animal conflict which is strangulating the species slowly but surely. These stressful factors needed immediate emancipation and Project Tiger conceived in the seventies has been active in saving the species. All PAs with tiger populations are under the aegis of this program in India that includes popular National Parks, WLS, and the reserves we so often visit to spot the majestic hunter.  Wildlife Protection Act 1972 has been crucial in protecting all life forms in the country and continues to do so in present times.       

Tiger tourism generates revenue for the parks and thus reduces the onus of funding on the State. Funds flow from other sources as well keeping the conservation initiatives alive. The industry as a whole contributes to revenue generation and provides employment to the locals and this results in empowerment as well. 

They are employed in the forest department, by the hotel industry as well as the small enterprise which supports local economies. Not all reserves receive a large number of visitors. The factors responsible for the surge of tourism in some reserves are good tiger sightings, sound infrastructure, and easy accessibility. This holds true for overseas visitors as well. In the present circumstance, Covid 19 Management will play a crucial role.       

Some of the best places for tiger spotting in India are few known ones. They are as follows:

• Kanha National Park
• Bandhavgarh National Park
• Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
• Corbett Tiger Reserve
• Tadoba Andhari Reserve 
• Pench Tiger Reserve 
• Panna Tiger Reserve 
• Periyar Tiger Reserve
• Nagarhole 

Though sightings may vary in these parks due to local factors generally the presence of big cats is robust thus increasing chances of sighting on tour. Make your plan according to the tour design and try to include at least two parks to enhance success. Remember to book excursion permits well in advance as entry into the reserves is limited.

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Uday Works as Freelance Naturalist and Blogs on conservation, tigers, and environmental issues. 

He also provides SEO and Website Content in English.

Uday Teaches Internet Marketing Classes in his hometown of Jabalpur in the summer.  

He can be contacted at: 

pateluday90@hotmail.com

9755089323

Tiger Lands of India

The subcontinent was full of tigers before 20th century. But expanding population and need for agricultural land decimated the big cat’s habitat. This was associated with large scale hunting in India. There was a drastic fall in the tiger population by the seventies. The Project Tiger initiated to conserve the endangered species achieved success albeit for a short time.  The scheme controls barely 2 /3 percent of the country’s forest habitats – protected areas.  

The tiger population is precariously low around 1400 cats survive. This number is also suggestive of large scale plundering of tiger habitats in India which still continues.  Both habitat destruction and hunting has contributed to the sad plight of the tigers in India.  The former has been more damaging since large tracts of forest have been denuded in the country and it continues.

India is in a state of quandary since the leaders perceive large scale industrialization as solution for economic development and prosperity for the poverty ridden masses. Habitat conservation and industrialization are an antithesis and intrusion in pristine lands is deadly. The rabid industrialization augurs environmental hazards by reducing the green cover and emission of poisonous waste harmful gases and chemicals. Raw material required is often mined which directly affect our ecosystems. Mining in the country has been a scourge with absolutely no control exhibited by the state governments or the administrative bodies - court reprimand notwithstanding.   

There are no efforts or ingenuity to go in for green industrialization the cottage industries are an apt answer to it. In eco sensitive zones the development should take places by empowering the local with indigenous skill set. Hence a stable earning source would emerge. Handicraft industry is one such example, eco tourism is another. Proper harnessing and utilization of minor forest produce is much less damaging than perceived. Assistance in marketing is a prerequisite in order to sustain the efforts.  

Agriculture is another malicious factor that has reduced our forests and grasslands to naught. Most of the agricultural practices in and around tiger reserves are inefficient and non productive. The land comprises of gravels and by all means is infertile, there may be exceptions but the land owners are very poor. The dependence of large herds of livestock especially cattle is another menace. Since we cannot utilize beef for food in India the holding population of old animals is unfeasible and puts further pressure on the ecosystem. (I am not advocating beef consumption). 

The livestock also endangers rare species because of disease transmission. The proximity to the forests is one reason for man animal conflict in which the latter is the looser. In Corbett where man eating is taking place often, the villages are situated right in the dense pockets. Hence the clash is inevitable with large scale intrusion taking place every day.        

Most of the tiger reserves are now pockets of survival isolated islands of natural habitats for prime species.  Creation of corridors seems unfeasible in absence of strong political will. The greatest fear is of inbreeding and some instances have been recorded as in Bandhavgarh.

In most of the tiger reserves administration can be defined as lackadaisical absolutely non committal in approach to save the wilderness and its inhabitants. Panna and Sariska are live examples and there may be many with shoddier performance that has gone unnoticed. The ill equipped machinery makes the parks more susceptible to wood logging and poaching. Corruption it seems is becoming a salient feature and it affects our tiger lands as well.

Counting of tigers may be a prerequisite in order to take assessment of the situation. Counting trees literally is as important since habitat must improve and increase in order to sustain the big cats and other endangered species.      

Tiger Tour Guide

I have added important resources for tiger tour which I am sure those interested in wild jungle safari in India will find useful. The links are about project tiger and major Indian National Parks and Tiger reserves.

The links also give a brief on Indian wildlife for naturalist guides, nature lovers and conservationists. My effort is to provide all tiger tour details at one spot for eco tourist traveling in India to see tiger and Indian wild life.

I would welcome suggestion from the reader on how to improve this blog by adding important travel info to make a travelers trip a success.