Safari In India: A Manual For Wildlife Lovers
It’s no marvel that Hindu gods all have animals for spiritual vehicles, or that majority of them are part-animal themselves: India has an unexpected range of habitations and biodiversity, and now, real-life holy elephants, monkeys, peacocks and bulls wander the country as they did in the time of the olden scriptures.
The numbers have fallen, of course – by an escalating rate – owing to poaching and human extension. Just 100 years ago, India had about 100,000 tigers; today only 2,226 are left in the wild. But that’s still about half the globe’s tiger population, and despite the many terrorizations to animals and their homes, India’s wildlife set-up continues to be rich and diverse.
India ranks 9th in the world for wild mammals with over 412 species, and it has 12% of the world’s oceanic creatures and birds. Preservation has been improved in recent years – in part due to the value of wildlife tourism – and the country now has almost 514 wildlife sanctuaries, 99 national parks and 41 conservation reserves and 4 community reserves, making it best to see at least some of the country’s top animal kingdom on your tour.
India’s wildlife – and where to see it? The answer is Pench National Park
Tigers: Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh has happily revealed the rise in the count of Royal Bengal Tigers to 44 in connection to 31 in 2016. This estimate exercise steered jointly by Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and Pench Tiger Foundation was held in January 2017 where an increase in the size of tigers was noted in East Pench (Sillari), Chorbahuli, Saleghat and Deolapar areas of Mansinghdeo Sanctuary, as well as Paoni and Nagalwadi.
One of the key things to observe during your safari at Pench Tiger Reserve is how the tour guides and the jeep drivers answer to forest calls so as to decide which way to head in for full chances of tiger spotting.
Elephants: Once upon a time India used to swarm with them, but today Indian elephants are fixated in an only some pockets around the country. The Nilgiri Hills, at the southern end of the 1600km-long Western Ghats mountainous range, has the maximum (around 10,000). While Pench National Park offers visitors to explore the jungle beauty on the back of the enormous elephants that inhabit this place. You can book Pench National Park tour packages to get the delightful experience of Elephant Safari Ride.
Leopards, Lions and Other Interesting Mammals: In addition to tigers, Pench National Park Tour Packages will take you to the land of Leopards, Gaur, Cheetal, Sambar along with Nilgais (a large, adorable antelope), Wild Pig and – wait for it – porcupines. Further, there are various other interesting mammals of the jungle that you will witness such as Wolf, Sloth Bear, Chousingha, Chinkara, Barking Deer, Jackal, Fox, Palm Civet, Small Indian Civet, Jungle Cat and Hyena. You also have best chance spotting one on a morning safari.
Birds: India has some exotic specimens right in the middle of its cities (Bangalore and Mumbai both have excellent bird-watching clubs), but serious twitchers can see migratory birds in the forest. Pench National Park is a spectacular pit stop for migrating birds: bicycle around in season to see crimson-breasted barbet, peaflowl, jungle fowl and redvented bulbul. According to an estimate of the wildlife authorities, the Pench National Park harbors more than 210 species including several migratory ones. They include, crow pheasant, , racket-tailed drongo, Indian roller, magpie robin, lesser whistling teal, pintail, shoveller, egret and herons, minivet, oriole, wagtail, munia, myna, waterfowl and blue kingfisher.