Tiger Activity Videos filmed at Bandhavgarh National Park in Central India

 Bandhavgarh National Park 

The land of the tiger Bandhavgarh encompasses ancient history in a charismatic terrain that captivates visitors who come here for tiger safari and animal watching. The tiger reserve and National Park is also one of the best bird-watching destinations in Central India. There are more than two hundred fifty species of avian which includes the winter migrants. 

Famous for its big cats the destination is home to a number of tigers, leopards, sloth bears, wild dogs, bison, and deer besides small carnivores like the jackal and the fox. The park is home to a number of antelope, like the Indian gazelle, Nilgai, and four-horned antelope. 

Due to the presence of a large number of tigers, it is an ideal holiday destination as well as a place for filming and photographing the big cats.  

Videos of tigers can be made during the daytime to capture them indulging in various activities. They can be filmed sleeping, walking, hunting, eating, drinking, and simply relaxing.  Videos below showcase their active life as mentioned above.   

Bandhavgarh is situated in the remote district of Central India or the State of Madhya Pradesh. It is open during dry and winter seasons from 1st October to the end of June.  You can reach by flying to Jabalpur Airport in Madhya Pradesh from where a drive of four hours to Tala in Umaria District is required. Jabalpur Airport is connected to New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, and many other towns. It is connected by rail as well and has a vast network of highway connectivity. 

For a safari in the park, a permit is required which can be obtained online at MPOnline Portal. The park is divided into three zones namely:

• Tala
• Khitauli
• Magdi '

You can choose them alternatively for morning and evening rides.  You must book in advance since during the rush bookings in the core zones might not be available. You will then have to book excursions in the buffer which is not very productive. The safari is conducted on an open jeep and canter and private vehicles cannot enter the park. 

The permit is booked for a charge and the passengers on the jeep have to be notified during the booking online. The fee has to be paid online during the booking while the jeep hire and guide charges are paid at the entry gates.  

Accommodations pertaining to various categories are available at Tala Village and in the neighborhood. You should book accommodation in advance in case there is a rush. A jeep for the safari can be booked at the gate. Those interested in hiring a naturalist should request the lodge. Most of the lodges provide the services of in-house naturalists.

Chambal River Boat Tours 

Perspective on Kipling

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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 Content in English. He teaches Digital Marketing in Jabalpur in Summer Holidays.
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Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
09755089323 

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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Tiger Tourism: The ADD ON Racket - Online Booking

Ever since the Government or rather the NTCA capped entry into the tiger reserves in India its impact on the tourism industry has been disastrous. The unplanned expansion of accommodations in the tiger reserve precedes the implementation of the cap. Almost all tiger reserves overflow with a number of lodges and many of them are on the verge of closure.  

With the rise in tourism post-nineties, a mad rush to set up lodges in the outer confines took place. The cap came much later whence a PIL was filed in the SC calling for the ban on tiger tourism. The ban was supposed to be in totality hence perpetually placing the big cat out of the eye of the public. 

The ban if implemented would have had a disastrous impact on our tourism industry. Already under pressure, the tourism industry cannot bear the impact of such bans on prime indicator species and destinations. This is not all, after flourishing for decades the ban would have thrown a large number of the populace out of work. The local industry would have been the sufferer as well - directly or indirectly. 

Thankfully wiser counsel has prevailed and we are able to see the tiger in daylight. Nevertheless, as an enhanced conservation measure a cap was placed on the entry of vehicles into the park.     

The cap meant limited demand for accommodation and it also meant limited permits that would have assured the arrival of tourists. Without permits no tourist would book accommodation...that is obvious. 

Destinations that do not have alternative recreational places or opportunities are the worst hit. At these places the only way to run and profit from the lodges is to ensure tiger safari in the park for the guests. An unlimited alternative lies in the buffer but the buffer zones are habituated and do not yield any fruitful sightings, hence the tourist does wish to partake in a buffer safari.

The tiger safari bookings in Madhya Pradesh are carried out at the MP Online Site as well as at the current windows in the reserves. Both are subject to availability albeit there is no hue and cry about the availability and management of the tickets at the current windows the online booking system is like a storm in the eye.  

It is at the online booking portal where most of the anomaly exists. Taking advantage of the add-on system where you can add tourists forty-eight hours before the entry many lodges are into proxy bookings in name of their employees. This assures that whence tourists make a booking the add-on procedure is utilized and the tourists are added to the safari. Another charge that is being promulgated is that a hefty sum is charged from the tourists. This practice is being put in place by lodges that can afford to bear the cancellation charges. Obviously, these could be lodges with a hefty tariff.   

There was simmering contempt regarding this practice for a long time but no one paid heed. Now since a complaint has been filed with the authorities attention has been drawn toward the lacunae. 

How the authorities foolproof this system of ADD On or strike it out completely has to be seen. A lot of booking for the coming months have already been cornered and will be used to Add on future bookings.  

Pensive Tiger By Teerath Singh