Tiger Safaris in Central India

Wild Rendezvous

Central India or the State of Madhya Pradesh was once a densely forested belt. It still is albeit in protected areas and reserved forests. The latter is in a state of extensive denudation but the protected areas like National Parks and Wildlife sanctuaries fare better.
The last refuge of the tigers are the National Parks also declared as tiger reserves. The best places for tiger tours or safaris are Kanha National Park, Bandhavgarh National Park and Pench National Park in MP. Both Bandhavgarh and Kanha tiger reserves are accessible from Jabalpur while Pench is closer to Nagpur.

These are places with well organized tourism and safari network inside the core zones of the parks where tiger visibility is very high. The tiger safaris are conducted here in the mornings and evenings. Before making an entry to the park a form has to be filled that details passenger numbers, identification and vehicle/jeep details including the driver and naturalist guide if any. The forms have to be filled in at both times. A charge is set for the park safaris paid both the times.

After the formalities are complete one can enter the park and make a tour driving on the jungle road network. The tourists can traverse a wide distance along with the designated forest guide and return to the gate during the park closer.
One gets to view wide variety of animals and birds besides tigers and park landscapes. If tiger sighting on jungle road does not take place the “Tiger Show” is another option. In Tiger Show the tiger is previously located by Elephants and their mahouts. The visitors are than taken on elephant back to where the tiger has been cordoned. Before getting on for the Tiger Show one has to enlist at the designated place and receive a token. This token allocates your turn to be on the elephant back.

Tiger Safaris are wildlife lover’s delight. It facilitates a wide scale study of the whole ecosystem and offers chance sightings of endangered and rare animal species. Birding is also best done during tiger safaris but patience and good equipment is required. On foot trekking is not allowed in the National Parks.

Due to heavy rush at the gates one has to book tiger safari right along with the bookings in the National Park hotels in Madhya Pradesh. This is because there is restriction on numbers of jeeps that can enter the park during the rounds.