Indian Adventure 13

WILDFOOT’s Simon spent time on an Indian wildlife adventure earlier this year and documented his journey for you to peruse on the WILDFOOT blog. Today, Simon travels to the Tiger Den and finds out more about the predatory nature of local tigers and leopards.

Part 13 

This is my last day in Ranthambore and I’ve had excellent sightings of Tigers, one leopard and many other wildlife and birding species. It’s been an amazing visit.

Tigers and leopards are seen on many occasions in this area. After the staff finish their shifts at 10:30pm, the tigers and leopards are known to sit on the walls or in the trees and climb over the eight-foot wall of the park to get into the village.

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These predators are driven in by the various free-roaming animals that are readily available in the town – the roaming cattle, pigs and dogs are all easy pickings.

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These regular visitors are all well and good for a tourist, but their visits can also end in human deaths. Last month, a local lady was killed by a leopard and in 2012, a young boy was killed just off the road by a tiger that he disturbed at six in the morning.

Leopards are more likely to stalk a human, while tigers will only attack if they are provoked. It’s clearly not the big cats’ faults, as nature dictates, but those that do kill humans are captured and taken to a zoo so that other human lives are spared.

The forestry commission has decided to take action against the predators, and is creating a wildlife corridor, known as the Keladevi wildlife corridor, within the next six years. Driven by these incidents and the death of Hash Vardan, who was one of India’s best-known and most influential wildlife campaigners, it is hoped that an additional wildlife park will bring the whole area to over 1,000 square kilometres and make the surrounding areas safer for residents and tourists.

This solution will provide comfort for the next decade, and it will be interesting to see how it is implemented in the coming years. The Indian government wheels turn slowly, but it is better late than never.

Next time, Simon travels to Guwahati and takes in the Brahmaputra River. If you would like to start your own Indian wildlife adventure, get in touch with a luxury travel company like WILDFOOT today. We’re on hand throughout the week to answer your questions and put together an itinerary that works for you and your family.