eye on the tiger: india tiger safari
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AN AUSPICIOUS HEADLINE RAN
on the ront page o the Times of India on my rst
morning in the country. Three new Bengal tiger
cubs had been spotted in Ranthambhore National Park,bringing the total number o tigers in the reserve to
36. The discovery was welcome news considering
that the parks tiger population had plummeted rom
46 in 2003 to only 26 the ollowing year. Beore I let
or India, the travel outtter who arranged my trip
had warned me not to expect to see a tiger; at best,
she said, I would have a one-in-three-game-drives
chance o a sighting. But the propitious report in the
morning paper oered hope that the long journey to
the subcontinent would not be in vain.
Ater two days o recovering rom the journey
and a our-hour drive over bumpy back roads and
through dusty desert vi llages in the northwestern
state o RajasthanI arrived at the gates o
eyeon thetiger
In the former hunting reserves of maharajas,
new game lodges are attempting to replicatethe African safari experience in Indiaand
protect the spectacles elusive star.
by sc o t t g o et z
setting up camp
The Oberoi Vanyavilas opened in 2001 as the frst high-
end saari lodge at Ranthambhore National Park.
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Ranthambhore. The 155-square-mile park lies within the
Aravalli Range, one o the oldest mountain chains in the
world, and is part o a contiguous series o protected wildlieareas. The parklands steep sandstone clis and rugged peaks
orm a natural rampart that or centuries protected Rajput
warriors rom invading tribes. The mountains also serve to
concentrate wildlie in Ranthambhores valleys and plateaus.
Ranthambhore is home to large numbers o lemur mon-
keys, sambar deer, marsh crocodiles, and other exotic spe-
cies. However, rampant poaching and, beore the 1970s,
legal hunting o tigers has decimated the once-thriving
Bengal population. From the mid-18th century through
the mid-20th century, Ranthambhore served as the shikargarh,
or private hunting reserve, o the Singh maharajas o Rajas-
than, whose ormer ort still presides over the park rom itsperch atop the clis. During this era o the great hunt,
Indian royal amilies believed it to be good luck to kill 108
tigers in a lietime. Their superstition, however, did not pre-
clude them rom slaying many more.
By the time I set out on my third game drive at
Ranthambhore, I had grown accustomed to the monkeys
trampling around Rajput ruins and the deer grazing near
marsh lakes. But the only signs o tigers had been a ew
paw prints in the parks dirt roads. Then we heard a gun-
shot. Shankar, our guide rom the Aman-i-Khs wilderness
resort outside Ranthambhore, inormed us that the parks
wardens were tracking a large male in an attempt to relo-
cate him. Better to see a tiger under anesthesia than not atall, I gured, as we sped toward the sound.
The shot had missed its mark, and we arrived to nd track-
ers walking in a semicircle through the bush. When they dis-
covered the cat hidden near our vehicle, they ordered us to
leave, or saety purposes, beore we had a chance to glimpse
the animal. I had struck out again, or so it appeared until,
while we were driving toward the parks exit, a monster-sized
cat, gloriously regal in her orange and black coat, strutted out
o the tall grass. Behind her bounced three young cubs.
The tigress appeared nervous, worried about the roam-
ing male. I he ound the cubs, he would kill them in an act
o dominance. While she scouted the area, her cubs rol-icked around a allen tree, as i posing or our cameras. But
I could not take my eyes o o their mother. I had seen
hundreds o lions and leopards in the wild and expected
tigers to be about the same size as their Arican cousins.
This Hummer o the eline amily, however, made lions
seem like house cats.
despite their splendor and size, tigers have long lagged
behind lions on the priority lists o saari-goers. The Arican
cats popularity owes partly to its abundance; tourists have a
Trained naturalists serve double-duty as both drivers and wildlie guides at Mahua Kothi, outside Bandhavgarh National Park.
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greater chance o spotting a lion than they do a tiger. Perhaps
equally signicant, however, is that lions are the stars o an
extravagant, entertaining, and sophisticated show.
Nothing in the world compares to the experience o an
Arican saari. Dozens o game lodges in South Arica,
Tanzania, Kenya, and other sub-Saharan countries pamper
guests in rst-rate acilitiesoten in implausibly remote
locationsthat contrast sharply with the raw beauty o the
bush. Ater sleeping in a $4,500-per-night suite, one might
nd himsel the next morning witnessing a lie-and-death
struggle between a lion and a Cape bualo while sitting in
the comort o an open-top Land Rover manned by expert
trackers and guides.
Recently, however, wilderness lodges such as Aman-i-Khs
have begun creating an equivalent to the Arican-saari expe-
rience in India. The most prominent push is coming rom one
o Aricas largest saari rms, Conservation Corporation o
Arica, which plans to have ve new Indian game lodges by
the end o this year. By bringing its show to the subcontinent,
CC Arica hopes to lure saari-goers to the land o the tiger
and, quite possibly, postpone the cats extinction.
cc africa opened its inaugural Indian lodge, Mahua Kothi,
near Bandhavgarh National Park last November. But the Johan-
nesburg rm was not the rst company to build a high-endsaari camp in India. Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, a Delhi-based
chain, opened the Vanyavilas tent resort near Ranthambhore
in 2001. In 2003, Singapore chain Amanresorts ollowed
Oberois lead with Aman-i-Khs, a sleek tent resort modeled
ater the camping grounds o maharajas.
At Aman-i-Khs, the guest experience bears a close
resemblance to those o Arican saari camps. Butlers wake
you up beore dawn or morning game drives, which are
ollowed by decadent brunches. Ater the evening saaris,
you return to your suite to nd that your butler has drawn
a bubble bath and surrounded the tub with candles. Later,
you gather with other guests around a large campre or
cocktails beore dinner, which is served in a tent and accom-
panied by native perormers.
The entertainmentwhich at Aman-i-Khs may consist
o Rajasthani olk music perormed by opium-eating Su
mysticsis one o the eatures that distinguish the Indian
saari experience rom that o Arica. Other dierences are
less amusing. Arica has ar more speciesand in greater
numbersthan India, so spotting big game is virtually
assured on a sub-Saharan saari. Moreover, most lodges in
Arica have control over the rules and protocol within their
concessions. Indian parks, on the other hand, are managed
by the government and burdened by outdated policies.
Rules at Ranthambhore hold that only two game drives
are allowed per day, with schedules set by park ocials
who can and do change them with little notice.
Vehicles must be driven by park rangers, who
have varied naturalist knowledge and guest-
relation skills. The routes they ollow, which
are divided into seven tracks, are predetermined
and cannot be changedeven i a signicant
sighting is taking place on a nearby track.
Since opening, Aman-i-Khs has worked with
Ranthambhore authorities to gain more reedom
o access to the park. Guests now can ride in the
resorts custom-built, open-topped vehicles, and
Aman-i-Khs has hired naturalists who have an
average o 15 years experience in the park. Still, as
the saying goes, The British created bureaucracy,
but the Indians perected it. So to skirt some othe red tape, CC Arica, which operates some 40
camps throughout its home continent, aligned
with Indias largest hotel chain, Taj Hotels Resorts
and Palaces, as it prepared to enter the country.
Mahua Kothi is the rst in a series o lodges the partners
plan to open in the Indian states o Madhya Pradesh and
Uttaranchal. Named ater a tree that plays a role in local
estivals and rituals, Mahua Kothi borders Bandhavgarh
National Park in Madhya Pradesh, approximately 350 miles
south o Ranthambhore. More than a century ago, Rudyard
Kipling selected what is now Bandhavgarh and the nearby
Kanha National Park as the setting or the adventures oMowgli and Shere Khan in The Jungle Book. At the time, the
region belonged to the Maharaja o Rewa.
Like the Rajasthani Singhs at Ranthambhore, the mahara-
jas o Rewa used their jungles as private hunting reserves.
Bandhavgarh, however, proved more bountiul than its coun-
terpart to the north. In 1936, Maharaja Gulab Singh o Rewa
claimed a world record by killing his 501st tiger. Perched in
a machan (a wooden platorm high in the trees), Singh would
sit and read a book while as many as 5,000 villagers, known
as beaters, advanced through the orest beating tom-toms to
Spotted and sambar deer are common sights at Bandhavgarh; their predators prove to be more elusive.
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scare the tigers toward him. When a cat appeared, a tethered
rhesus monkey would sound an alarm, and the maharaja
would look up rom his book and shoot the beast.
Ironically, Maharaja Singhs determination to protect his
tigers so that only he could kill them helped ensure their
survival. Bandhavgarh is now more densely populated with
the cats than is any other park in India, and it is said to be
the best place in the world to spot the Bengal tiger. The
Rewa orests also hold the distinction o producing Mohun,
the white tiger cub, captured by Maharaja Martand Singh in
1951, rom which all white tigers o the world descended.
Tigers came under protection in India in 1973, when
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched Project Tiger, a
conservation plan that set aside nine reserves or the animals.
The government prohibited cattle grazing and oresting in
the protected areas, and it relocated
entire villages. Censuses showed that
tiger populations increased rom
approximately 1,800 to 4,000 dur-
ing the initiatives rst 11 years, but
ater Gandhis assassination in 1984,
investigations revealed that orest
ocials had infated the numbers to
ensure continual unding.
Today, the Indian government
claims to spend $75 million per year
on the tiger reserves. Still, most o
the parks have only skeleton stas,
who are underpaid and ill-equipped
to prevent illegal hunting. Poachers
slaughter on average one tiger perday to meet the demand or the ani-
mals bone, which is an ingredient in
a number o Chinese medicines.
Government ocials now esti-
mate the countrys tiger population
to be about 4,000. CC Arica intends
to help sustain those numbers. The company has had success
protecting wildlie in Arica by employing local villagers and
demonstrating to them how they can prot rom preser-
vation. In India, the rm is working with Bandhavgarh
authorities to build ences to shield local villages rom
predatorsespecially tigersthat kill cattle, and it is intro-ducing a version o its WildChild program, which teaches
community youths about the preservation o native species.
Through successul and sustainable ecotourism, live tigers
will have more value to them than dead tigers, says CC
Aricas marketing director, Nicky Fitzgerald, whose hus-
band, Steve, serves as the companys CEO. This does not
happen overnight. First a lodge needs to be built, lled, and
run protably so that meaningul opportunities are made
available to the neighboring communities. Only when this
happens do we believe we can then infuence the way in
which the community views the conservation o biodiver-
sity in Indias beautiul wilderness areas.
CC Aricas preservation plans may help explain why the
company partnered with a hotel chain that is well-versed in
local customsand local bureaucracy. Still, There is no
quick x, no magic wand, says Fitzgerald, just a hard grind
toward tangible results.
like the partnership between Taj and CC Arica, the site
or the companies rst lodge combines elements o India
and Arica. Set between the Vindhya and Satpura Ranges,
Bandhavgarh eatures tropical orests and woodlands, steep
rocky hills, and fat grasslands that resemble those o the
South Arican bush. Sal trees dominate the orest, creating a
thick cover that limits undergrowth. Twenty-two species o
mammals have been documented in the 41-square-mile
park, including langurs, spotted deer, sloth bears, jackals,
oxes, and leopards. Tigers, however,
are the main attraction.
I know, I know. You want to see
a tiger, says Kartkeya Singh Chauhan,
a jubilant CC Arica naturalist serv-
ing as my guide. Beore the sun has
peeked over the horizon, we jump
into a nine-seat Tata (similar to a
Land Rover) and drive through a
tiny town where cows sleep in the
road and villagers carry baskets o
vegetables on their heads. Last
night, the park ranger called, says
Chauhan, an Indian who sports a
proper Englishmans derby. A tiger
made a kill up in the ort yesterday,and the ort just opened to the pub-
lic without the need o a permit. I
think we should hike up there.
The idea o tracking a tiger on
oot is both exhilarating and terriy-
ing. My ears are not quelled when I
mention my desire to see a sloth bear. You know, the sloth
bear doesnt move as slowly as a sloth, says Chauhan, as he
tugs at his mustache. They can outrun a human and kill you.
But I will show you a sloth bear, I promise.
The Tata shits into low gear as we ascend the mountain
to the ootpath. Bandhavgarh Fort, which dates to the rstcentury, looms above us on a virtually unassailable plateau
at an elevation o 2,625 eet. Halway up the mountain, we
park in ront o a 36-oot-long statue o Vishnu, the Hindu
god o protection, reclining on a seven-hooded snake.
Created in the 10th century, the statue lies in a pool ed by
an artesian spring. Chauhan says that in the summer you
can see tigers resting on top o Vishnu, cooling o in the
water that cascades over him.
During an hour-long trek, we hike through dense vegeta-
tion while scanning the jungle or tigers. When we arrive at
the orts gate, with its giant spikes that kept out the elephants
o raiding Mogul warriors, we discover tiger scat and paw
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Poachers slaughter on
average one tiger per day
to meet the demand for
the animals bone.
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prints. Vishnu appears again once we enter the ort, this time
as 10th-century rock images depicting his incarnations as a
hal-man/hal-lion, a giant boar, a sh, and a tortoise.
We search the area or the killand or the killerbut
Chauhan concludes that the tiger has consumed its prey
and moved on. Our guide does, however, deliver on his
promise: As we leave the park, he points to an image o a
sloth bear painted on a large map at the entrance.
before cc africa and Taj opened Mahua Kothi, ew visitors
to Bandhavgarh explored the parks ruins. Most people
received only a brie and renzied glimpse o the park as
participants in what is known as the tiger show.
The show consists o tour operators stacking people into
tiny jeeps, racing to the center o Bandhavgarh to grab tokens
or elephant rides, and then driving around maniacally in an
attempt to locate trackers who have ound a tiger. Jeeps speed
past each other to be rst in the sometimes 20-vehicle-long
line o operators waiting so their guests can mount the ele-
phant or the allotted our-minute-long viewings.
At Bandhavgarh, a park-hired guide must lead the game
drives, but the operator supplies the driver. For guests o
Mahua Kothi, CC Arica has enlisted Chauhan and other
naturalistswho are more knowledgeable about the local
fora and auna than are the parks guidesto do the driving.
The day ater our hike to the ort, we set out with
Chauhan in the Tata. While other drivers speed around rom
elephant tracker to elephant trackerwho are having no
luck locating tigersChauhan slowly searches or other
game, spotting or us a rare jungle cat and a hard-to-nd
shrew. Eventually, we pull up to the center station, and
Chauhan sets o to collect our tokens.
They ound a tiger a hal hour ago, he says on his
return. The Jeeps speed o, but we take our time, nishing
our coee and continuing on our game drive. An hour
later, we arrive at the site to nd six vehicles in line. I we
had come straight here rom the station, says Chauhan,
there would have been three times as many.
We wait about 15 minutes, and then it is my turn to
climb a ladder or my our-minute ride. Once atop the
elephant, I am transported. Suddenly, I am Mowgli lumber-
ing through the woods on my pet pachyderm. Then I spot
him. Shere Khan, the tiger, 20 eet away, lits his sleepy head
and locks a golden eye onto mine.
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Eye on the Tiger
Staying on Safari
124 robb report may 2007
aman-i-khsSet within the Rajasthani wilds near Ranthambhore National Park,
Aman-i-Khs eatures 10 air-conditioned tent accommodations
with rooms separated by cotton drapes. (The bathing areas oer
showers and soaking tubs.) In addition to game drives, highlights at
the resort include the nightly cocktail hour around a massive campfre
and organic treatments at the spa. Amanresorts oers a package that
includes three nights at Aman-i-Khs and three nights at its equally
stunning sister property, Amanbagh, near Arwal in northern India.
+91.7462.252.052, www.amanresorts.com(rom $750)
mahuakothiNo one travels all the way to Mahua Kothi, outside Bandhavgarh
National Park, or the ood, but you would not be disappointed i
you did. Bullock-cart breakasts in the baghiya (traditional garden) and
campfre dinners o curries and tandoori are essential to the experi-
ence at this new Taj/CC Arica saari camp. The camp includes 12
guest rooms built in the mud-hut style common to central India, with
modern accents o wood shutters, tapered walls, and open raters. Large
verandas look out over mahua trees and open grassland. In February,
Taj/CC Arica opened a second saari camp, Baghvan, near Madhya
Pradeshs Pench National Park, and the partners plan to open three
more wilderness lodges by the end o this year.
+91.11.2680.7750, www.indiasafaris.com (rom $600 per person)
oberoivanyavilasVanyavilas has more o a typical resort ambience than the other bush
camps in India. The 25 accommodations have solid wood and glass
walls and canvas tops, and the interiors are richly decorated with
colonial-style urnishings and embroidered canopies. A tiled pool sits
at the center o the 20-acre, lushly landscaped property.
+91.11.2389.0505, www.oberoihotels.com (rom $700) s.g.
indiaisdifficult to negotiate, and travel between destinations can be arduous and time-consuming. It is thereore wise to plan your tripthrough a well-established tour company such as Micato Safaris (800.642.2861, www.micato.com), which can provide suitable transportation
and guides to ensure a smooth journey. Micato can arrange stays and saaris at each o these new wilderness resorts in India.
Aman-i-Khs