India is home to fifty Tiger Reserves; let’s look at some of the best tiger safari parks in the country for spotting the magnificent Royal Bengal Tiger.
Introduction
When visiting a Tiger safari park, your top thing to do is, to have fun obviously, but on the very very top is to catch a glimpse of the magnificent striped cat.
Now to those of you who are aware of the pains of spotting a tiger and to the others who are oblivious to this, I say spotting a tiger in the wild is not as easy as it may seem. By virtue of you visiting a tiger safari park it does not guarantee you a chance of seeing the Royal Bengal Tiger. The Royal highness is very selective in his appearance.
The tiger is a shy, solitary animal that likes to be left alone. Spotting a tiger requires some luck. The terrain and habitat also play a role and last the more safaris you do the more your chances of seeing the shy beauty.
Having said that, I shall try and list down in my opinion some of the best tiger safari parks in India for Tiger Safari.
-
Ranthambore National Park
#1 Tiger Safari Park: Arguably one of the most popular Tiger reserves in India. The park sees a high influx of local as well as International tourists.
Earlier the hunting ground of the maharaja, which is now a popular reserve has seen tiger populations bounce back from the brink of extinction.
The magnificent Ranthambore fort stands guard in the reserve and forms a beautiful blend of cultural and natural heritage.
Explore: Tiger Safari in Ranthambore, Kanha & Bandhavgarh Tour
This beautiful dry deciduous forest is a great habitat to spot the Royal Bengal Tiger.
A Royal destination for those interested in biodiversity as well as some cultural heritage.
-
Bandhavgarh National Park
#2 Tiger Safari in Bandhavgarh the name literally translates into ‘Bandhav’ meaning brother and ‘garh’ meaning fort.
The Fort was a gift of Lord Ram to his brother Lakshman. This beautiful 2000-year-old fort adorns this national park.
Akin to Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh too was once a hunting preserve which now is a safe abode for wild tigers.
The park harbors one of the highest densities of wild tigers in the world.
A moist deciduous forest comprising of Sal trees and bamboo grass, this makes it a great habitat to view the big cat.
-
Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
#3 Tiger Safari Park: A park that has shot to fame and captured all the limelight due to its magnificent tiger sightings is Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. Recently a black leopard was also sighted in the park raising its popularity even further.
Tadoba the name is derived from the god ‘Tadoba’ or ‘Taru’ whom the local tribe’s dwelling in the periphery of the forest worship and Andhari is the river that flows inside the park.
Tadoba is a dry deciduous forest that with the right management has seen tremendous growth in the tiger population.
The park authorities have built saucer-shaped waterholes which have been great for Tiger spotting especially in the summer months.
-
Kanha National Park
#4 Tiger Safari Park: The largest national park in the state of Madhya Pradesh, this moist deciduous forest with its lush grasslands is truly a beautiful park to visit.
Besides tigers, Kanha National Park is also home to the endangered jewel of Kanha the Swamp deer which has seen a miraculous recovery thanks to the conservation efforts of the forest department.
The footage of the Royal Bengal Tiger in the recently shot documentary ‘Our Planet’ on Netflix is from Kanha national park.
It’s a beauty spotting the tiger walking in the grasslands of Kanha and the park will leave you enchanted and mesmerized.
-
Pench National Park
#5 Tiger Safari Park: Pench national park is the setting for the famous Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. This national park is easily accessible from Nagpur airport.
Home to the world-famous tigress Collarwali aka the Collared one. She holds the world record for raising the maximum number of cubs. With her current litter of four cubs, her count is thirty. Yes that’s a hell lot of Tigers!
An important landscape due to its connectivity with parks like Kanha via wildlife corridors, which is essential for big cat dispersal and helps maintain a healthy gene pool.
This dry deciduous forest is a healthy ecosystem sustaining a good population of wild tigers. For those of you looking for a quick forest escape and a chance to spot the wild cat, Pench is a great destination.
#6 Tiger Safari in Corbett: It was the first national park to be established in India in 1936. Then called Haley national park, it was later renamed after famous hunter turned conservator Jim Corbett.
The first park to come under the Project Tiger initiative to protect the Royal Bengal Tiger in India in 1973.
Nestled at the base of the Himalayas this moist deciduous forest is a great place to watch the Asiatic elephants and Bengal tigers coexist.
Home to a diverse variety of birds and other wildlife this destination should be a must for any wildlife lover.
Conclusion
In my opinion, the above-mentioned tiger reserves are some of the best places to spot the tiger and also have well-developed tourist facilities.
The tiger is the star of the forest, however, do not let it blind you and go with an intention of viewing all the denizens of the jungle.
So which Tiger Reserve are you visiting?
