We discover a way to evade such hardships and decide to roam the forests from the safety and comfort of a safari gypsy. After six successive failed explorations across the forests of Nagarhole, Bandipur, Periyar, Satpura, Pench and Kanha, finally, we succeed in taking the coveted pictures of Bengal Tigers in the deciduous forest of Tadoba and were convinced that that was the easiest way to achieve fame and glory. On the journey, though, I realize how commoditization has created the concept of tiger tourism and photography, that threatens ecotourism potential involving other wildlife species.
We started our exploration in most popular tiger tourism destination of subcontinent, the so-called “tiger terrain” – The Central Indian landscape. In the May of 2016, we explored Satpura, Pench and Kanha tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh state of India and in January of 2017 we visited Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve of Maharashtra state of India.
Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) also known as Satpura National Park is located in the Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh in India. Its name is derived from the Satpura range. It covers an area of 524 km2 (202 sq mi). Satpura National Park, along with the adjoining Bori and Pachmarhi wildlife sanctuaries, provides 2,200 km2 (850 sq mi) of unique central Indian highland ecosystem. It was set up in 1981.
Pench Tiger Reserve or Pench National Park is one of the premier tiger reserves of India and the first one to straddle across two states – Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The reference to Pench is mostly to the tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The portion of the reserve that is in Madhya Pradesh is nestled in the southern slopes of the Satpura range of Central India. Pench Tiger Reserve comprises the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, the Pench Mowgli Sanctuary and a buffer. It is the same forest area portrayed in the famous “The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling.
Kanha Tiger Reserve, also known as Kanha–Kisli National Park, is one of the tiger reserves of India and the largest national park of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The present-day Kanha area is divided into two protected areas, Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 km2 (97 and 116 sq mi), respectively. Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955 and was designated tiger reserve in 1973. Today, it encompasses an area of 940 km2 (360 sq mi) in the two districts Mandla and Balaghat. Together with a surrounding buffer zone of 1,067 km2 (412 sq mi) and the neighbouring 110 km2 (42 sq mi) Phen Sanctuary, it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve, which is one of the biggest in the country. This makes it the largest national park in central India.
The Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a wildlife sanctuary in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in India. It is Maharashtra’s oldest and largest national park. Created in 1955, the reserve includes the Tadoba National Park and the Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary. The reserve consists of 577.96 square kilometres (223.15 sq mi) of reserved forest and 32.51 square kilometres (12.55 sq mi) of protected forest. Legend holds that Taru was a village chief who was killed in a mythological encounter with a tiger. Taru was deified and a shrine dedicated to Taru now exists beneath a large tree on the banks of Tadoba Lake. The temple is frequented by adivasis, especially during a fair held annually in the Hindu month of Pausha (December–January).
After our first tiger sighting at Tadoba, we were confident about our path chosen to achieve fame and glory through ecotourism/wildlife photography.
But something was not quite right! What was that? To know read my newly published book Pseudo Ecotourism in the Shadow of the Bengal Tiger.
You can read the review of the book at Good Reads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212106582-pseudo-ecotourism
The book is available with 20 global distributors. The free sample chapters can be read at:
Pseudo Ecotourism 