Choosing Right Tiger Reserve and Safari Zone

It is a major decision and would make or break your safari holiday in India. Choosing a tiger reserve is not easy if you are not familiar with the wildlife landscape of the country. There are a large number of reserves and National Parks which are popular for their tourism infrastructure as well as offer good sightings of megafauna and birds. 

Bandhavgarh National Park 

Diverse wildlife means conserving an indicator species in this country since that's what is accorded priority after a ravage of a few centuries. Lot many ecosystems were destroyed and lot many species became endangered and few become extinct. Nevertheless, there are efforts to conserve the dwindling nature and preserve the species facing extinction. This is why there is a great effort to save the tiger, Asiatic Lion, and the Rhino to name a few. 

Likewise, the tiger reserves are under the aegis of Project Tiger a conservation program that is at the forefront of saving the species.  But this is not enough since money has to be generated for the purpose and thus twenty percent area of core or critical tiger habitat is reserved for tourism. Of late even the outer ring of the PAs or the buffer zone has been facilitating tourism of safari.      

Tiger

Tourism generates revenue for conservation but then it can generate a lot of human nuisance as well. Thus to prevent this a set of rules has been framed by the State Forest Departments to regulate this activity. The most crucial step has been to limit the movement of vehicles in the parks. This prevents the clustering of the vehicles at one spot and also limits disturbance to the animals. This is facilitated by issuing permits for safari. Each tiger reserve limits vehicles as per the area and capacity and only those with a permit are allowed to explore the core in an open jeep or canter. Hence in order to enjoy a safari holiday in the parks, you have to secure a permit or permits for safari and this can be done online.       

For a successful safari targeting the big cat, one needs to study the matter a bit. If you are connected with the landscape through hoteliers, tour operators, or naturalists you will get a fair idea about choosing the right reserve as per your travel plan. You can get a fair idea from social media connections on Indian Wildlife and there is no shortage of groups or online communities for this. After having chosen the right reserve the next question that arises is choosing the right zone or zones for productivity. This has to be done because you are restricted to a particular zone for each safari or game ride. For this too you need to resort to the mechanism mentioned in this blog post.         

Some of the popular tiger reserves in India are mentioned below: 

• Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
• Kanha Tiger Reserve 
• Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
• Pench Tiger Reserve 
• Tadoba Tiger Reserve
• Corbett Tiger Reserve
• Periyar Tiger Reserve 
• Panna Tiger Reserve 

These are the reserve known for high tiger sightings and hence the target of tourists. If you are on an extended stay in the park then choose zones in consultation with the people mentioned above. Thus you can book tiger safari yourself online at State Portals. The best option is to choose a reliable tour operator and book the package it is offering to big cats in India. Booking permits in advance is a wise option for by the time you reach the gate to procure one the limit could have been exhausted.  

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Uday Freelances as Naturalist in Central India. He is an avid birder and tiger enthusiast. He blogs on tigers, wildlife and birds. He also writes on the environment and conservation.

Uday also provides SEO Services and Website Contents in English. He teaches Digital Marketing in Jabalpur in Summer Holidays.
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Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
09755089323 

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