Half-Day, Full -Day Tiger Safaris Banned In Ranthambore National Park

In a sudden move amidst ongoing bookings for tiger safaris in Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan government has stopped the bookings for the full — and half- day tiger safaris. However, the three hour long morning and afternoon safaris will continue. This will give much needed respite to the tigers from the tourism triggered stress. A study in two famous tiger reserves of Central India- Kanha national park and Bandhavgarh tiger reserve had revealed high levels of stress among the tiger population of the two parks because of the continued disturbance of noise created vehicular traffic and presence of humans. Tigers chasing tourist vehicles have been reported almost on regular basis from Ranthambore. A frightening 19-second video of a incident, tweeted in December 2019 , showed a tiger fiercely chasing a safari jeep as the driver tries to outrun it. In January this year another incident was reported and as a precautionary measure, the route where the incident was reported was closed for tourists and the tiger was monitored through camera traps.

Why Long Duration Safaris Banned

The Rajasthan government has applied brakes on the tourist vehicles for full- and half-day safaris excursions almost six years after they were started in 2016 by the erstwhile BJP government amidst protests from conservationists and environmentalists. This step will give fillip to the environment wildlife conservation efforts in india . The state forest department sources said that “the pending bookings for such safaris will be honoured but no new booking for safaris of half-day and full-day duration will be done”. Wildlife experts said that the decision “will reduce the stress on tigers and other wildlife from large numbers of tourists and noisy vehicle movement.” “There is monetary loss, but the decision to run only the three-hour safaris has been taken in the interest of our staff and the wildlife,” Deep N Pandey, head, Forest Force, Rajasthan has been quoted in the media. The park is closed for three months from July to September. Tourism season will begin from October 1. With about 80 tigers including cubs and sub-adults , Ranthambore is one of the most popular wildlife tourism destinations of country.

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This wildlife sanctuary attracts a large number of tourists every year generating about Rs 30 crore per annum, 10 % of this — Rs 3 crore- is earned from the long duration full day- and half day safaris that had no restrictions. Unlike full day-and half day safaris, the morning and afternoon safaris are restricted to some tourist zones only. A full-day safari, offered on Gypsy vehicles, would cost each foreign tourist a whooping Rs 75,000 while the half-day charge was Rs 42,600. An Indian tourist pays Rs 55,000 for the full-day safari and Rs 30,000 for half-day. Half day and full day safaris were recommended for avid nature lovers and wildlife photographers. As in half -day and full -day safari guests would have the option to enter in any zone so these safaris are more promising when it comes to tiger spotting, a resort owner said. In comparison, the regular three-hour safari costs a foreigner Rs 14,100 and an Indian Rs 8,700. But the park management said it would be difficult to monitor the vehicles engaged in long duration safaris. “ They were costly excursions and we would always be under pressure from many authorities to let them move and spend time near the tiger for longer durations which would obviously disturb the animal”, officials said.

How Tourism Trigger Stress Impacts Tigers

The long duration safaris were very famous world over attracting connoisseurs of wildlife photography but these excursions along with vehicular traffic from other tourists would have a negative impact on wildlife, a study revealed in 2015. Almost the same year , governments in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also reduced the period of park shut down from four months to three ( June to September was changed from July to September) . The study was conducted in Kanha and Bandhavgarh tigers. The same year scientists from Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad conducted the research . It revealed tigers suffer from high levels of physiological stress due to wildlife tourism and a large number of vehicles entering the parks. Prolonged stress can adversely affect both survival and reproduction, it found. “Chronically elevated glucocorticoid levels can negatively impact growth, reproductive success, immunity, and cause muscular atrophy,” senior author Govindhaswamy Umapathy who was principal scientist and project leader wrote.

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Interestingly, a previous study by the authors, published in 2015, showed that tigers re-introduced in Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan in 2008 failed to reproduce, probably due to stress elicited by human disturbances. Much before this, in 2006, Govindasamy Agoramoorthy ,a professor of biodiversity conservation and ecotourism at Tajen University, Taiwan, wrote in Down To Earth “Today it seems that local and foreign tourist parties with their dust-triggering vehicles have replaced royal hunting expeditions of earlier times. The red sandy dust thrown up by the truck had left us choking and we were relieved after reaching the metal road.Tourism in Ranthambore is inimical to wildlife .”

Representaional Images: Hourly Rooms Ranthambore and India Inspire Journey, Ranthambore and MP Tourism Development Corporation

Originally published at https://www.thewildlifeindia.com on September 10, 2022.