10 Best Wildlife Destinations for Tiger Safari’s in India
The Majestic tiger’s population has started improving since past five years in India. Tiger has always been a center of attraction for all the tourist. Here is the list of some of the best wildlife tiger safari’s in India.
1. Bhandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh
Bandhavgarh National Park, the most popular national parks in India is located in the Vindhya Hills of the Umaria district in Madhya Pradesh. Declared as a national park in 1968, it is spread across the area of 105 km². The area of Bandhavgarh is being flourished with a large biodiversity, the place which is also being famed to grip highest density of tiger population in India. Similarly, the park also beholds the largest breeding population of leopards and various species of deer. Over the years, the park has shown a great number of increases in the count of the tiger species and this is the reason why tiger tours is so famed to attract large amount of tourists at its vicinity.
The other animals are White Tigers, Bengal Tigers, Leopards, Sambar, Barking Deer, Nilgai, Wild Boar, Gaur, Chausingha and Chinkara, the Asiatic jackal, Bengal fox, sloth bear, ratel, grey mongoose, striped hyena, jungle cat, leopard and tiger.
2. Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan
Ranthambore National Park is one of the biggest and most renowned National Park in Northern India. The park is located in the Sawai Madhopur district of southeastern Rajasthan, which is about 130 km from Jaipur. Being considered as one of the famous and former hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur, today the Ranthambore National Park terrain is major wildlife tourist attraction spot that has pulled the attention of many wildlife photographers and lovers in this destination.
The other animals found here are Tigers, Leopards, Striped Hyenas, Chital, Nilgai, Common or Hanuman langurs, Macaques, Jackals, Jungle cats, Caracals, Sloth bears, Black bucks, Indian Wild Boar, Common Palm Civets or Toddy cat, Desert Cats, , Indian False Vampires, Indian Flying Foxes, Indian Foxes, , Indian Mole Rats, Indian Porcupines, Small Indian Mongoose, Small Indian Civets and Common mongoose.
10 Best Wildlife Destinations for Tiger Safari’s in India
3. Jim Corbett National Park, Uttrakhand
Jim Corbett National Park, which is a part of the larger Corbett Tiger Reserve, a Project Tiger Reserve lies in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. The magical landscape of Corbett is well known and fabled for its tiger richness. Established in the year 1936 as Hailey National Park, Corbett has the glory of being India’s oldest and most prestigious National Park. It is also being honored as the place where Project Tiger was first launched in 1973. This unique tiger territory is best known as the father who gave birth of the Project Tiger in India to protect the most endangered species and the Royal of India called Tigers.
Other Animals found here are Leopards are found in hilly areas but may also venture into the low land jungles. Small cats in the park include the jungle cat, fishing cat and leopard cat. Other mammals include barking deer, deer, hog deer and chital, sloth and Himalayan black bears, Indian grey mongoose, otters, yellow-throat martens, Himalayan goral, Indian pangolins, and rhesus macaques. Owls and nightjars can be heard during the night. In the summer, Indian elephants can be seen in herds of several hundred. The Indian python found in the reserve is a dangerous species, capable of killing a chital deer.
4. Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh
The lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel “Jungle Book”. The Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh came into being in 1955 and forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve, created in 1974 under Project Tiger. The Park’s landmark achievement is the preservation of the rare hard ground Swamp Deer, saving it from near extinction. Stringent conservation programs for the overall protection of the Park’s fauna and flora, makes Kanha one of the most well maintained National Parks in Asia.
The Reserve brings around 300 species of birds and the most commonly seen birds are the black ibis, bee-eaters, cattle egret, blossom-headed parakeets, pond heron, common teal, crested serpent eagle, grey hornbill, Indian roller, lesser adjutant, little grebes, lesser whistling teal, pied hornbill, woodpecker, pigeon, paradise flycatchers, mynas, Indian peafowl, red jungle fowl, steppe eagle, white-eyed buzzard, white-breasted kingfisher, white-browed fantail, wood shrikes and warblers among many more.
10 Best Wildlife Destinations for Tiger Safari’s in India
5. Sunderban National Park, West Bengal
The Sundarban National Park is a National Park, Tiger Reserve, and a Biosphere Reserve in West Bengal, India. It is part of the Sundarbans on the Ganges Delta, and adjacent to the Sundarban Reserve Forest in Bangladesh. The delta is densely covered by mangrove forests, and is one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger. It is also home to a variety of bird, reptile and invertebrate species, including the salt-water crocodile.
The present Sundarban National Park was declared as the core area of Sundarban Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1977. On 4 May 1984 it was declared a National Park. It is a UNESCO world heritage site in scripted in 1987. It is considered as a World Network of Biosphere Reserve (Man and Biosphere Reserve) in 2001.
Apart from the Bengal tiger, Fishing cats, Leopard cats, Macaques, Wild boar, Indian grey mongoose, Fox, Jungle cat, Flying fox, Pangolin, Chital, are also found in abundance in the Sundarbans.
6. Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh
Pench National park, nestling in the lower southern reaches of the satpuda hills is named after Pench River, meandering through the park from north to south. It is located on the southern boundary of Madhya Pradesh, bordering Maharashtra, in the districts of Seoni and Chhindwara. Pench National Park, comprising of 758 SQ Kms, out of which a core area of 299 sq km of Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park and the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary and remaining 464 sq km of pench national park is the buffer area.
The area of the present tiger reserve has a glorious history. A description of its natural wealth and richness occurs in Ain-i-Akbari. Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighborhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling’s most famous work, The Jungle Book. The common northern plains gray langur and rhesus macaque represent the primate fauna of the area. The Indian porcupine, two species of mongoose viz. common mongoose and ruddy mongoose, and black-naped hare also occur in this Tiger Reserve.
10 Best Wildlife Destinations for Tiger Safari’s in India
7. Tadoba- Andhari Tiger reserve, Maharashtra
Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a Tiger reserves in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in central India. It is notable as Maharashtra’s oldest and largest National Park. It is one of India’s 41 “Project Tiger” – Tiger reserves. Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve was established as second Tiger Reserve in the Maharashtra State, in 1994-95. Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve area constitutes a unique ecosystem, comprising, wide variety of flora and fauna including diverse and rich avi-fauna with unique natural scenic beauty. Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve is a popular tourist destination in India. There is significant increase in tourist’s inflow during the recent years.
Beside Tiger, it is abode to number of prominent wild denizens like Leopard, Wild dog, Sloth bear, Gaur, Sambar, Barking deer, Cheetal, Chausinga, Nilgai, Wild boar along with rare ones like Ratel, Flying squirrel, Pangolin and Rusty spotted cat. The continuity with forests of Chandrapur, Bramhapuri and Central Chanda Division enrich the conservation prospects of these species.
8. Nagarhole Tiger reserve, Karnataka
Nagarahole is named after Nagarahole, a winding river which runs eastwards through its centre. It is situated in the two districts of Mysore and Kodagu in the state of Karnataka. It was originally constituted into a sanctuary in the year 1955 covering an area of 258 sq. Km and subsequently enlarged to include the adjoining areas of Mysore district and now extends over an area of 643.39 sq. km which was given the status of a National Park in 1983.
The birth of Nagarahole National Park can be traced to the notification of 285 Sq. km. Game Reserve way back in 1955, which included the reserve forests of Arkeri, Hatgat and Nalkeri in Kodagu. Subsequently, in 1974, reserved forests from the adjoining Mysore district were added to the Nagarahole Game Reserve, which was upgraded to the status of a National Park covering 643 sq. km.
The herbivores are chital, sambar deer, barking deer, four-horned antelope, gaur, wild boar and Indian elephant. Nagarhole National Park provides an opportunity to see some of the southern population of gaur (jungle bison). Also, this park in Karnataka is a good place to see elephants in the luxuriant forests and bamboo thickets which they most enjoy. Their total population in southern India is now about 6500, nearly all living in the area where Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala adjoin in the shadow of the Western Ghats.
9. Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka
This National Park was formed by including most of the forest areas of the then Venugopala Wildlife Park established under Govt. Notification dated 19th February 1941 and the area was enlarged in 1985 extending over an area of 874.20 Sq.Km and named as Bandipur National Park. This reserve was brought under Project Tiger in 1973. Subsequently some adjacent reserve forest areas were added to the reserve and extending to 880.02 Sq. Km. The present area under the control of Bandipur Tiger Reserve is 912.04 Sq. Km. An area of 39.80 Sq. Km of KFDC plantation area was handed over to this division during 2007-08. During 2010-11 the Nugu Wildlife Sanctuary was handed over to Wildlife Division, Mysore. Bandipur supports a good population of endangered and vulnerable species like Indian elephants, gaurs, tigers, sloth bears, muggers, Indian rock pythons, four-horned antelopes, jackals and dholes.
10. Satpura Tiger Reserve
Satpura National Park is located in the Hoshangabad 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 1,427 km of unique central Indian highland ecosystem. It was set up in 1981. The terrain of the national park is extremely rugged and consists of sandstone peaks, narrow gorges, ravines and dense forests. The animals here are leopard, chital, four-horned antelope, Chinkara, wild boar, bear, black buck, fox, porcupine, flying squirrel, mouse deer, Indian giant squirrel, etc. There are a variety of birds. Hornbills and peafowl are common birds found here.
