Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) is one of the most sought after tiger-sighting and watching destinations in India. Maharashtra can claim this with confidence and a large measure of pride, because Tadoba is a wonderful habitat and the state flagship tiger reserve. It is a place to see mother nature at its glorious best; a setting where human effort has engineered a remarkable transformation of an area, once over used and over exploited for its rich natural wealth, and flora and fauna. Today the forest is vibrant, verdant and flourishing with life – mammals, birds, insects and reptiles, along with grasses, shrubs and trees, share an ecosystem that is beautiful to behold and experience.
The area of the Pench Tiger Reserve and the surrounding area is the real story area of Rudyard Kipling's famous "The Jungle Book". The idea of Mongali is made from the pamphlet "An Account of Wolves's Nurturing Children in their Dens" by Sir William Henry Sliman. In 1831 there was a report of the arrest of a child who had grown up with wolves in village Satbavadi near Seoni. The place described in "The Jungle Book", the Vainganga River, its valley where Sher Khan was killed, the mountain ranges of village Kannivara and Sivani etc. are the actual places in the Seoni district. The forest areas of the Pench Tiger Reserve have a glorious history. Pench Tiger Reserve was awarded to "Best Maintain Tourist Friendly National Park" Award under the National Tourism Prize 2006-07.
With the picturesque remains of a crumbling fort, a living temple, and three mirror-like lakes, Ranthambore is one of the most photographed national parks in India. The former hunting grounds of the Maharaja of Jaipur, Ranthambore National Park is part of a much larger 502 square mile tiger reserve. It’s home to approximately 45 Bengal tigers, and is within easy travel distance of Delhi. This makes it a very popular place indeed. Still, it’s a good place to spot tigers as well as leopards, caracal, sloth bears, spotted and sambar deer, nilgai and Indian gazelle, golden jackal, striped hyena, pangolin, honey badger and more.
KANHA
NATIONAL PARK
Kanha National Park is a paradise for wildlife lovers. With a core zone of 363 square miles, it’s the largest national park in Central India. It’s also considered one of the most well-managed. The result is a beautiful park that’s teeming with wildlife. With approximately 105 Bengal tigers, it’s a great place to spot the big cats in the wild. But there’s so much else to see there, including leopards, sloth bears, sambar and barasingha deer. Kanha’s breeding program played a very important role in saving the barasingha from extinction.
BANDHAVGARH
NATIONAL PARK
Bandhavgarh is very picturesque, and popular with photographers and wildlife enthusiasts. It’s always on the lists of the top national parks in India. The ruins of an ancient fort makes for a great backdrop to this park, with a core area of 40 square miles and a buffer area of approximately 154 square miles. It’s one of the best places to spot a tiger in India. Located among the Vindya Hills in Madhya Pradesh, Bandhavgarh boasts one of the highest densities of Bengal tigers in the world. But the magnificent cat is not the only attraction here. There are also 36 other mammals, including leopards, chital, dhole and nilgai (“blue bulls”), more than 150 species of birds, and around 80 species of butterflies.
KAZIRANGA
NATIONAL PARK
Located in the northeast state of Assam, Kaziranga is one of the finest wildlife refuges in the world. Home to the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinos, the park is an undisturbed natural area of wet grasslands, swamps, and pools in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain. On the UNESCO Natural Heritage list for India, Kaziranga is a great conservation success story, having saved the one-horned rhino from the brink of extinction. In 1903, there were only 12 left in the region; now there are about 1,800.
TADOBA
ANDHARI TIGER RESERVE
RANTHAMBORE
NATIONAL PARK
PENCH
NATIONAL PARK
TOURS
SUNDARBANS
NATIONAL PARK
There is no place else on earth like the Sundarbans. Formed by the Ganges River and Brahmaputra River deltas in the Bay of Bengal, the Sundarbans is the world’s largest mangrove forest and one of the most biologically productive of all ecosystems. Encompassing 513 square miles, Sundarbans National Park is situated within a larger UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve. Many rare and endangered wildlife species call this region home, including the estuarine crocodile, Gangetic dolphin, Olive Ridley turtle, king cobra and Bengal tiger. Approximately 100 Bengal tigers live in the watery world of the Sundarbans, having adapted to an almost amphibious life. They can swim long distances and feed on fish, crab, and water Monitor Lizards. It’s a unique landscape that attracts wildlife lovers who are mesmerized by the mangroves, waterways, birds, and rich biodiversity.
JIM CORBETT
NATIONAL PARK
This is the oldest national park of India, and also one of the most popular. It has many claims to fame, including being the site of the Project Tiger launch in 1973. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas in the northern state of Uttarakhand, Corbett is home to more than 200 Bengal tigers – the highest number of any tiger reserve in India. Corbett is also a great place for birding, with approximately 650 species of resident and migratory birds. It’s one of the only Indian national parks that allows overnight stays in the core zone.
GIR
NATIONAL PARK
Did you know that India is the only country on earth with endemic lions, tigers and bears? (Oh my!) Located in the western state of Gujarat, Gir National Park is the only remaining natural habitat of the Asiatic lion. In fact, Gir is the only place in the world where you can see lions roaming wild outside of Africa. Hunting reduced the Asiatic lion population in the region to 20 in 1913, and completely wiped them out in other parts of Asia. However, through the intervention of the Nawabs of Junagarh and the Forest Department, there are now 523 lions in Gir National Park. The park is also home to leopards, sambar deer and the chowsingha – the world’s only four-horned antelope.
NAGZIRA
TIGER RESERVE
The Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is a miraculously preserved “Green Oasis” in the easternmost part of the Maharashtra State and has a great importance from bio-diversity conservation point of view. This sanctuary is locked in the arms of nature and adorned with picturesque landscapes, luxuriant vegetation and serves as living outdoor museum to explore and appreciate nature. This wildlife sanctuary is indeed nature’s priceless asset and beckons one and all to enjoy its picturesque landscape, its scenic beauty, its pure and fresh air. It is really a boon to us and hence we must realise the real worth of this marvelous treasure house of nature and must protect it as a part of our national heritage. It has got immense potentials from bio-diversity conservation point of view and its values.
KABINI
WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
Kabini forest reserve is one of the best wildlife destination in Karnataka mainly because of its accessibility, rich green vegetation, water body and possibility of the animal spotting like herds of Elephants, Jaguar, Tiger and Black Leopard. An eighty km drive from Mysore or 205 kms drive from Bengaluru makes the accessibility much more easier for people from Karanataka and people from Kerala can reach through Wayanad the origin land of Kabini River. The connection of south-eastern part of Nagarahole National Park gives more chances for animal spotting during summer. On the banks of Kabini Reservoir we could find 55 acres of forest land, steep valleys and other water bodies
PERIYAR
WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Kerala. The sanctuary is known for its scenic beauty much of which comes from the western ghats that surround it. The sanctuary is spread across 192,000 acres of lands and is filled with dense green vegetation.
Here you can see tigers and elephants. Along with safaris, there are also boat rides conducted around the park.