Tigers in top 5 National Parks in India 2022

Below is not a blog, but a compilation of list of tigers that were seen by the tourists during the tiger safaris which started in October 2021 and closing in June 2022. We chose these 5 parks as they had some incredible tiger sightings in the season. This is list of tigers in top 5 national parks in India (Oct 2021 to June 2022)

By the numbers given below it seems the tiger numbers are low. But there are reasons for the same. To name a few:

Tourism happens only in 20% of the total national park, so we get to see tigers only in that area.
Every tiger has an individuality, i.e., some tigers are bold, while some are shy. Tourists mostly see the bold tigers. The shy tigers are around, but due to beautiful camouflage they merge themselves in the flora and are not seen. As Jim Corbett once wrote that you get to see a tiger only when a tiger wants you to see him. So, if he is not keen to show himself, he will hide himself so well that despite being close to your vehicle you will not be able to see him. It is sheer magic how he does this.
The Forest department records tigers using camera trap images during the tiger census. So, they are able to capture most of the tigers in all areas. On the other hand, tourists only see the bold tigers. At times they are able to click images, at times not. When not, it becomes tough for guides and drivers to identify them and thus list them in the list of tigers seen.
The tigers which are seen by the tourists often in certain areas get names from the local guides and drivers, while the forest department always gives every tiger a number for a fool proof documentation of tigers. Hence it becomes easy for the guides and drivers to remember names and record their presence thus making them social media celebrity tigers. So if Maya’s territory was a certain part of the tourism zone in Tadoba, she will be sighted more often than other tigers, or Spotty in Bandhavgarh, Neeela Nala male in Kanha, Kuraigad male in Pench etc

Tigers in Bandhavgarh National Park 2022

Bandhavgarh National Park turned out to be the Daddy of all National Park when it came to seeing tigers during the Tiger Safaris in India. Though Bandhavgarh does not have a high tiger density per 100 sq kms, but still the sightings here are matchless for many reasons, to name a few:

As Bandhavgarh was the hunting reserve of the former Maharaja so the tracks were made in a manner that it became easy to track tigers if you happen to be following him.
The soil here is sandy and the tracks left by tigers are much easily identified compared to some parks like Corbett, Dudhwa etc.
The flora, and foliage here is much thinner compared to parks like Corbett ,Dudhwa, and Kanha, so you can see tigers here from a distance, while you may not see a tiger just 5 feet next to your vehicle in the listed parks like Corbett, Dudhwa, etc.

Bandhavgarh has over 110 tigers, but the guides and the tourists recorded just over 25 individuals in the tourism zones. Bandhavgarh does not have a high density of tigers as popularly claimed by many. Just one about 5 tigers every 100 sq kms.

As mentioned above that tourism is permitted in just about 20% of the total park area, and this area is divided into 6 different zones. There is a big hue and cry about core and buffer zones, and everyone wants to do safaris in only core areas, but they forget that tigers do not know which is core and which is buffer, they need to do their daily chores irrespective for survival, like, territory markings, hunting, mating, bringing up litter etc.

As the tiger sightings in this park are so regular, hence most of the celebrated wildlife film makers from Discovery, Nat Geo, and BBC have been regularly filming here for last 3 decades.

People fell in love with this park first by seeing films made on Charger, Sita, B2, and Bamera tiger. The Tigers seen from October 2021 till June 2022 in Bandhavgarh National Park are:

Tigers in Tala Zone:

Chakradhara Male,
Rancha Male and
Benbehi Male.
Chakradhara Female with 03 cubs,
Spotty Tigress with 03 cubs,
Kajri Tigress with 04 cubs and
Benbehi Tigress wil 03 cubs.

Tigers in Magadhi Zone:

Mahaman Male
Jamhol Male
Mahaman Bachchi Tigress with 02 cubs,
Buffer Wali Tigress with 02 cubs,
Dotty with 04 Cubs and
Dabhadhol Tigress with 03 Cubs.

Tigers in Khitauli Zone

Bajrang Male,
Chota Bheem
Pujaari Male.
Ra Tigress with 04 cubs,
Darraha Tigress with 03 Cubs,
Darraha Bachchi Tigress and
Tara Tigress with 04 cubs.

Tigers in Kanha National Park 2022

It is nature that inspires all great inventions and discoveries. As it is nature that gives wings to dreams and imaginations. Be it the falling of Apple on Newton’s head, flight by warner brothers, solar energy etc.

Similarly, Rudyard Kipling got inspiration for his classic masterpiece “The Jungle Book,” from Kanha National Park. The national park covers 2100 square kilometers of dense woodlands, grasslands, bamboo thickets, and waterholes. Thus, Kanha is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna. Like other parks, Kanha is divided into different tourism zones, eight in total to explore its immense expanse.

Four zones of Kanha, Mukki, Kisli and Sarhi fall cover the 20% of the core part of the forest and other four Khapa, Khatia, Phen and Sijora fall in the buffer area of the National Parks.

Tigers in Mukki Zone

Neela nala male,
Umarpani male,
DB-3 male,
T-46 male,
Pattewala male
DJ 4 male
MV-3 (4 cubs),
Chhoti mada(1cub),
Broken tail female (T32),
Sharmili female,
Bijali female and
DJ female

Tigers in Kanha Zone

Bajrang male
Bhoindabra male,
Bahadur male
Neela nala male(sighted also in kanha)
District line female,
Neelam female (3 cubs),
Mohini female,
Naina female,
Bhoindabra female (4 cubs),
Sunaina female,
Neelima female,
Parsatola female and
Link 8 female

Tigers in Kisli Zone

Jamuntola male,
Suphkar Male,
DB-2 Male
Dhamangaon Male
DJ’s sister,
District line Female (also travel to kisli)

Tigers in Sarhi Zone

Balwan male
Thin Stripe Male
Parsatola female

Tigers in Ranthambhore National Park 2022

Ranthambore is a dry-deciduous forest, meaning there is little undergrowth and most trees lose their leaves during the dry season. Ranthambore receives the least amount of rainfall of all the tiger reserves in India, and as a result, there are very few regions with long grasses, thus increasing the visibility of the Tigers and other wildlife during the Tiger Safari in Ranthambhore.

Tiger sightings in the wild are entirely dependent on luck, however these odds can be greatly increased. Before going on the safari, it’s a good idea to know how the tigers have been behaving in the park during the last few days. This knowledge is available from almost all local guides and drivers. This information comes primarily from their own observations over the last few days, as well as observations from other guides and drivers. It is feasible to identify regions where the odds of seeing tigers are better if you know the movement patterns of tigers in the last several days. The guides are aware of the movements of different tigers in different zones. In Ranthambhore there are a total 10 zones in which the safaris are done.

Please find below detail of Tigers in different zones which has the maximum sightings in this season:

Tigers in Zone 01

Zone 01 there are two Tigers dominating tigers. One is the male called as Sultan and the tigress Noor which has two cubs at the moment.

Tigers in Zone 02

There are two males and two females which are the main source of sightings in Zone 02. T 84 Female and T 105 female. T 105 has 03 cubs at the moment. And two males are T 57 and T 60.

Tigers in Zone 03

In Zone 03 there is male and female which guards the area T 124 is a female also know by the common name Riddhi and T 120 is the male also commonly known as Ganesh. These two Tigers were the highlight of Zone 03 in 2021 – 2022 season.

Tigers in Zone 04

In zone 04 there are two females and one dominant male. Females are T 19 and T 111. T 111 has 03 cubs at the moment. T 86 is the male which is the dominant male of zone 04.

Tigers in Zone 05

In Zone 04 there are two females and two males. Females are T 102 (Graffiti) and T 125 (Siddhi). Two males are T 112 and T 113 who owns their territory in zone 05.

Tigers in Zone 06

There are two Tigers which owns the territory in Zone 06 are T 8 (ladli) and her son T 129 who has made his territory around the same place.

Tigers in Zone 07

In Zone 07 we get to see on male Tiger T 128, the son of T 8 (Ladli).

Tigers in Zone 08

In Zone 08 there is no such Tiger which has made its territory for long. This season there has not been any. Sometime T 8 and T 34 is spotted in zone 08.

Tigers in Zone 09

In Zone 09 there is a female T 59 with a cub which has given some of the best sightings in this season.

Tigers in Zone 10

Zone 10 is another best zone for Tiger sightings. There are 06 Tigers with 07 young cubs. T 34 (Kumbha) T 58 (Rocky Male) and T 108 are three males which roams around zone 10. There are females T 99 which has three cubs right now, T 79 which has got two cubs and T 114 (Noorjahan) has two cubs.

Tigers in Pench National Park 2022

The adventure of Mowgli and his battle with the enraged Sher Khan in Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli is based on Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The locations marked at Alikatta village and the Seeonee hills are the locales described in ‘The Jungle Book.’ As a result, the Pench Tiger Reserve is also known as the “Land of The Jungle Book.”

Pench is a smaller park compared to other national parks above. It just has one tourism area with three gates, Touria, Karmajhari and Jamtara gate. There are 11 Tigers which roam around the tourism area.

Tigers in Pench National Park:

Baghin nala female with 2 Cubs around 15-16 months old which has the territory right in the begining of route 2
Langdi T 20 with 1cub around 16-17 month old,
Bijamatta female with 2 Cubs around 16 -18 month old,
Patdev T 4 with 5 Cubs around 16-17 month old,
Sukurpen female with 4 tiny Cubs around 2 month old,
Runijhuni female with Cubs around 5 month old,
L mark male,
Swastik male,
Ghursal ghat male,
Kuraigad male in Rukkhad zone
Jhandimatta female and
New female around junewani area

Tigers in Corbett National Park 2022

Jim Corbett National Park is a tiger haven, with about 275 wild tigers, or about 17 tigers per 100 square kilometers. The topography, which is home to a vast assortment of flora and fauna, makes this India’s most attractive national park. This park was established in 1936 in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in Northern India and is named after Jim Corbett, a man-eating tiger hunter turned conservationist and novelist. Many wildlife enthusiasts go to observe the majestic Indian tigers and large herds of Asian elephants at one of India’s most well-known wildlife attractions.