Inside Bandhavgarh’s forests: the evolving nature of tiger tourism

Tiger tourism is travel centered on seeing tigers in their natural habitat. In a reserve such as Bandhavgarh, visitors typically join safaris in vehicles and travel along forest roads with a guide. The goal is a sighting, but the setting also reveals plants, birds and other animals. This matters because tourism can shape how people understand forests and how strongly they value them.

The article describes a jeep moving slowly through Bandhavgarh’s muddy lanes. The guide, Viswajit Singh Solanki, identified Samrat, an eight-year-old male tiger. Visitors watched him stare, cross the road and disappear into bushes. Bandhavgarh also has India pittas and crested serpent eagles, although the tiger remains the main attraction.

Today’s experience is more than a guaranteed animal encounter. Sightings depend on the tiger’s movements, and a gate sign reminds visitors that a tiger may see them even when they do not see it. The article also highlights sustainable lodging and nature-education programmes.

Bandhavgarh’s last population census recorded 164 tigers. Of these, 35 were accessible to tourists in the reserve’s core and buffer zones. These figures separate the reserve’s total tiger population from the smaller number visitors may realistically encounter. That distinction matters because tourism does not provide access to every tiger living in the landscape.

The article presents Samrat as one of more than 100 tigers living in Bandhavgarh’s muddy lanes. He is an eight-year-old male who moves through the Tala and Khitauli zones. The report says visitors can access 35 tigers in the core and buffer areas, not that every one will appear during a safari.

The numbers also show why sightings create pressure. Bandhavgarh is promoted as a strong tiger destination, while only a limited group is accessible to tourists. The reserve covers 1,536 square kilometres and is divided almost equally between core and buffer zones, giving tigers different spaces for different needs.

Bandhavgarh is considered one of the world’s best places to spot a tiger because it has a substantial tiger population and a tourism system built around sightings. Manav Khanduja of Pugdundee Safaris calls it one of the top destinations globally. The reserve’s reputation draws visitors who want a close view of a Bengal tiger in the wild.

The article records 164 tigers in Bandhavgarh, with 35 accessible to tourists in core and buffer zones. It describes Samrat, an eight-year-old male, strolling through the Tala and Khitauli zones. Visitors in a jeep watched him pause, stare at them, cross the road and vanish into the bushes. Such encounters explain the destination’s appeal.

Yet the attraction is not a guarantee. Samrat is described as elusive, and a sign near the exit reminds visitors that a tiger may have seen them without being seen. The strong reputation also creates pressure, with tourists increasingly choosing buffer zones in hopes of finding a tiger.

A core zone is the more protected part of the reserve, where adult tigers often roam because deer and other prey are more abundant. A buffer zone surrounds or complements it and can include farms and villages operating under restrictions. The two zones therefore provide different conditions within the same tiger landscape.

Viswajit Singh Solanki explains that sub-adult tigers rely on buffer zones for easier prey, including cattle. Adult tigers usually prowl core zones, where wild prey is more plentiful. Bandhavgarh is spread across 1,536 square kilometres and is divided almost equally between its core and buffer areas.

This arrangement means both zones matter to tiger ecology and tourism. Buffer areas are not empty spaces outside the reserve’s story; they connect wildlife with human settlements and livestock. The article says tourists are increasingly visiting buffers because of pressure to see tigers. That trend makes careful management important, especially where farms, villages and wildlife overlap.

Tiger tourism at Bandhavgarh has shifted from organised elephant-based viewing to vehicle safaris. A few decades ago, before mobile phones, “tiger shows” were popular. The system focused on placing tourists near a known tiger, making the sighting more staged and predictable than a search through the forest.

Manav Khanduja recalls that elephants were used to spot tigers. One elephant would then be parked at the location, while tourists were brought to view the animal. The present article instead describes visitors travelling slowly in a jeep through muddy lanes. A guide identified Samrat as he moved through the Tala and Khitauli zones.

The modern experience still carries intense pressure to see a tiger, but the encounter is less described as a fixed show. Samrat stared at the group, crossed the road and disappeared into bushes. Tourism has also expanded into buffer zones, showing how the search for sightings now shapes where visitors travel.

When visitors feel they must see a tiger, tourism becomes concentrated around that single animal. The article says the tiger is the superstar of Bandhavgarh and that intense sighting pressure has changed visitor behavior. Tourists increasingly prefer buffer zones, whereas this was not the case a few years earlier. The forest can then be experienced mainly as a place to find one species.

The article does not describe a specific injury or disturbance caused by this pressure. It does show the shift in movement through the reserve. Buffer zones include farms and villages, while core zones contain more deer and other prey. Tourists seeking sightings are therefore entering areas with a different ecological and human setting.

That pressure can also make visitors overlook Bandhavgarh’s wider life. The reserve includes India pittas, crested serpent eagles and varied flora and fauna. A more balanced experience would treat a tiger sighting as uncertain and appreciate the forest even when Samrat, or another tiger, remains hidden.

Wildlife tourism can support tiger conservation by making forests valuable as living ecosystems, not just as places for staged sightings. To reduce disturbance, visitors and operators need to respect core and buffer arrangements, accept that sightings are uncertain and pay attention to the whole forest. The article connects tourism with sustainability and education rather than sightings alone.

At Kings Lodge, solar energy powers more than 75 percent of the cottages. The lodge also supports Pro-Nat, which prepares people for wildlife-related careers. A-Nat serves amateur naturalists, while Y-Nat gives children aged 12 to 17 four practical, forest-based modules. These efforts build knowledge and skills around the landscape.

The article also explains why zoning matters. Adult tigers use prey-rich core areas, while sub-adults may use buffers near farms and villages. Careful tourism should avoid turning either zone into a tiger-show site. If operators keep improving sustainability and education, visitors can leave with ecological lessons, not only photographs.